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                       Nasal Spray Tested for Snakebites

   by VOA News

   Venomous snakes kill as many as 125,000 people each year.  Snakebite is
   a leading cause of accidental death in the developing world, especially
   among otherwise healthy young people.  Most die before they can reach a
   hospital, largely because there is no easy way to treat a snakebite in
   the field.  Even if the snake is identified and an antivenom exists,
   the medicine is expensive, and requires refrigeration and significant
   expertise to administer.
   Dr. Matt Lewin, Director of the Center for Exploration and Travel
   Health at the California Academy of Sciences, led an effort to find an
   easier way to treat snakebites where they occur.  His team focused on
   common drugs that can reverse the deadly paralysis caused by a snake's
   neurotoxins.  Those drugs are typically given intravenously, an
   approach that is difficult outside of a hospital.  So Lewin put them
   into a nasal spray.
   In an experiment in California and an actual treatment in India earlier
   this year, the nasal spray reversed paralysis within a half hour.
   Lewin is now conducting studies to determine the best methods and drug
   combinations to address this neglected tropical menace.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/article/1713362.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/article/1713362.html