James Ashe Antivenom Trust

Because of various friends coming out with children on holiday I seem to have been socialising much more than usual.

I was called away from a birthday dinner party last week to send antivenom to Malindi District Hospital for a snakebite patient.

In fact, when I read the doctor’s note brought by the driver of the vehicle coming to collect the antivenom, I reckoned that the snake involved was a Mole Viper (our most regular causer of snakebite in this area) and antivenom would not be used for that.

I sent a note to that effect along with two vials of antivenom worth about US $130, so, if my diagnosis was correct, they will be in the refrigerator at the hospital for immediate use if a SERIOUS snakebite case comes in.

The rainy season, with its variable weather, has brought the snakes out and we have been dealing with the seasonally expected Mole Viper bites (Atractaspis sp.) which are nasty but not dangerous.

I suspect one of the ‘Mole Viper’ bites we have seen was actually inflicted by a centipede - the swelling, pain and treatment are very similar.

Some antivenom from the James Ashe Antivenom Trust has gone to the Malindi Hospital. One dose was for a 6-year-old boy bitten by a Puff Adder. He reacted a bit to the antivenom but has survived.

The worst event was a 4-year-old child, bitten right above the knee by an unseen snake. The child collapsed rapidly and was brought to Bio-Ken by his mother. He was completely unresponsive and we rushed him immediately to the doctor, antivenom in hand but he was dead on arrival.

The only snake that could have caused such a rapid fatality, death within less than 40 minutes, is a Black Mamba.

We keep and extract venom from more than 40 of these animals and this tragedy was a grim reminder to us, if we needed it, of how careful we have to be, and of the value of the work we do for snakebite treatment.