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Originally Posted by MDT
Pirarucu...your statements regrading copperhead bites are spot on. I would say however, that allergic response to venom is really not an issue. Many people are allergic to bees/wasps only because they have been "exposed" to their venom previously. Similarly, in the "old days" when we treated snakebites with the Wyeth Polyvalent antivenin (horse serum), lots of people were allergic to that as they had been exposed to various horse related proteins in their past. With the venom itself, unless you've developed an allergy from a previous encounter with a venomous snake, you should worry more about the destructive nature of the venom rather than an allergic reaction...not to say that allergic reactions never happen, and apart from my experience clinically and reading the literature, i haven't had to intervene in an allergic response from the venom itself. I have had to many times intervene in an allergic response to the treatment for the bite. Just throwing this out there...
oh, and if you come across the info on the copperhead fatality, would you please PM the source to me? I'd like to include that in my data base for lectures....Thanks!!  |
Oh I agree, serious allergic reactions are not common in the case of a first bite. The risk is still there though, and in keeping one of these species, if you get bit once or twice then suddenly they may become very hot. My point is that venomous snakes do have the potential to be deadly, even if their venom isn't usually very potent.
I'm going to go the lazy route. Wikipedia links to the articles associated with each bite.
List of fatal snake bites in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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