Universal antidote for snakebite a step closer

Scientists working on a universal antidote for snakebite have moved one step closer to their goal as a result of promising research carried out in the USA and in Dublin.

Led by researchers from the California Academy of Sciences and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) the scientists examined the use of a nasally administered common hospital drug, neostigmine, on mice injected with high doses of Indian cobra venom.

Mice injected with fatal doses of venom outlived those that didn’t receive the treatment and in many cases survived after being treated with the antiparalytic agent. The results of the research were published in the Journal of Tropical Medicine.