Team:DTU-Denmark

Envenomation by snakebite is one of the most neglected diseases with an estimated 5 million bites each year. These result in about 100,000 deaths and 400,000 disabilities annually. The only effective treatment is animal derived antivenoms, which frequently causes adverse reactions. As a result they are often only administered as a last resort.

One of the major problems related to treatment of snake bites concerns the lack of identification of the snake. When bitten, it is difficult for most people to remember details about the snake, which makes it almost impossible to confidently administer the correct specific antivenom. Currently, if the snake cannot be identified, multispecies antivenom is used in a consequently higher dose leading to more severe side effects. By solving the venom identification problem it could potentially increase the survival rate of snake bite victims. This is due to decreased diagnosis time and the decreased amount of antivenom necessary for treatment, thereby minimizing the chance of adverse reactions in the patient.

We aim to develop a detection-assay that enables us to determine what type of snake the patient is envenomed by. The strategy is to target distinguishable enzymatic features in the different snake venoms by developing suitable substrates. As a result, we can investigate the relative composition of specific venom components in a blood sample and thereby the safest course of treatment. See our Project Description