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  1. Tan CH, Liew JL, Tan NH, Ismail AK, Maharani T, Khomvilai S, et al.
    Toxicon, 2017 Dec 15;140:32-37.
    PMID: 29051104 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.10.014
    Arboreal pit vipers of the Trimeresurus complex group are medically important species in Indonesia (west of Wallace's line), but there is no specific antivenom produced in the country for treating related envenomation. Instead, the exiting trivalent Indonesian antivenom, Biosave® Serum Anti Bisa Ular (SABU, indicated for envenoming by Malayan pit viper, Javan spitting cobra and banded krait) is often misused to treat Trimeresus envenoming resulting in poor therapeutic outcome. Here, we investigated the cross-reactivity and neutralization capability of Thai Green Pit Viper Antivenom (GPVAV) against the venoms of four Indonesian Trimeresurus species. Consistently, the venoms of Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) insularis, Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) purpureomaculatus, Trimeresurus (Parias) hageni and Trimeresurus (Craspedocephalus) puniceus of Indonesia showed stronger immunoreactivity on ELISA to GPVAV than to Biosave®. The findings correlated with in vivo neutralization results, whereby GPVAV was far more effective than Biosave® in cross-neutralizing the lethality of the venoms by a potency of at least 13 to 80 times higher. The efficacy of GPVAV is partly attributable to its cross-neutralization of the procoagulant effect of the venoms, thereby mitigating the progression of venom-induced consumptive coagulopathy. The paraspecific effectiveness of GPVAV against Trimeresurus species envenoming in Indonesia await further clinical investigation.
  2. Tan KY, Ng TS, Bourges A, Ismail AK, Maharani T, Khomvilai S, et al.
    Acta Trop, 2020 Mar;203:105311.
    PMID: 31862461 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105311
    The wide distribution of king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), a medically important venomous snake in Asia could be associated with geographical variation in the toxicity and antigenicity of the venom. This study investigated the lethality of king cobra venoms (KCV) from four geographical locales (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China), and the immunological binding as well as in vivo neutralization activities of three antivenom products (Thai Ophiophagus hannah monovalent antivenom, OHMAV; Indonesian Serum Anti Bisa Ular, SABU; Chinese Naja atra monovalent antivenom, NAMAV) toward the venoms. The Indonesian and Chinese KCV were more lethal (median lethal dose, LD50 ~0.5 μg/g) than those from Malaysia and Thailand (LD50 ~1.0 μg/g). The antivenoms, composed of F(ab)'2, were variably immunoreactive toward the KCV from all locales, with OHMAV exhibited the highest immunological binding activity. In mice, OHMAV neutralized the neurotoxic lethality of Thai KCV most effectively (normalized potency = 118 mg venom neutralized per g antivenom) followed by Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese KCV. In comparison, the hetero-specific SABU was remarkably less potent by at least 6 to10 folds, whereas NAMAV appeared to be non-effective. The finding supports that a specific king cobra antivenom is needed for the effective treatment of king cobra envenomation in each region.
  3. Patikorn C, Blessmann J, Nwe MT, Tiglao PJG, Vasaruchapong T, Maharani T, et al.
    PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2022 Sep;16(9):e0010775.
    PMID: 36170270 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010775
    BACKGROUND: Understanding the burden of snakebite is crucial for developing evidence-informed strategies to pursue the goal set by the World Health Organization to halve morbidity and mortality of snakebite by 2030. However, there was no such information in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

    METHODOLOGY: A decision analytic model was developed to estimate annual burden of snakebite in seven countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Country-specific input parameters were sought from published literature, country's Ministry of Health, local data, and expert opinion. Economic burden was estimated from the societal perspective. Costs were expressed in 2019 US Dollars (USD). Disease burden was estimated as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to estimate a 95% credible interval (CrI).

    PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We estimated that annually there were 242,648 snakebite victims (95%CrI 209,810-291,023) of which 15,909 (95%CrI 7,592-33,949) were dead and 954 (95%CrI 383-1,797) were amputated. We estimated that 161,835 snakebite victims (69% of victims who were indicated for antivenom treatment) were not treated with antivenom. Annual disease burden of snakebite was estimated at 391,979 DALYs (95%CrI 187,261-836,559 DALYs) with total costs of 2.5 billion USD (95%CrI 1.2-5.4 billion USD) that were equivalent to 0.09% (95%CrI 0.04-0.20%) of the region's gross domestic product. >95% of the estimated burdens were attributed to premature deaths.

    CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The estimated high burden of snakebite in ASEAN was demonstrated despite the availability of domestically produced antivenoms. Most burdens were attributed to premature deaths from snakebite envenoming which suggested that the remarkably high burden of snakebite could be averted. We emphasized the importance of funding research to perform a comprehensive data collection on epidemiological and economic burden of snakebite to eventually reveal the true burden of snakebite in ASEAN and inform development of strategies to tackle the problem of snakebite.

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