Snakebites: reducing their international impact

Australian toxinology can contribute more to helping tropical developing countries where snakebites are a serious problem

The venomous fauna of Australia and her surrounding oceans is notorious for its diversity and potential danger.1 However, thanks to excellent medical services and more than a century of outstanding toxinology research,2 very few Australians die of snakebite. The eagerly awaited review of the first decade of the Australian Snakebite Project (ASP), published in this issue of the MJA, reports on a series of 1548 snakebite patients recruited between 2005 and 2015, of whom only 23 died (case fatality, 1.5%). The report provides much valuable information about how snakebite is currently managed in the clinic.3