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RE: Taipan Bite
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by Cro on December 23, 2008
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Todd, I am reading between the lines a bit on the many versions of the story that have been published. That is often needed with news reporting these days, LOL.
The reports says that the bite was almost painless. It is likely that the boy did not even know that a snake had bitten him at first, and likely that he continued playing in the water for some time. A tough 220 LB 15 year old boy is likely to at first pass off the stabbing by the short fangs of an unseen Elapid as being bitten by a turtle, or running into a sharp object under the water, and not a snake bite.
The procoagulants no doubt quickly caused changes in the blood volume and clotting factors, which could lead to the collapse and seizure as the brain was deprived from blood supply, and this also fits with him coughing up blood.
Also, the postsynaptic neurotoxins could lead to rapid muscle weakness followed by respiratory failure, which fits with him not being able to get out of the pond without help.
The presynaptic neurotoxins would kick in later, and cause flaccid or major paralysis, and this sounds like what happened when they describe the boy with his eyes open but "not being there." That effect is well know in the bite of some Elapids, especially Kraits.
I think the main thing is to rememer that every snake bite will be different, due to individual differences in venom, and individual differences in the health of the person bitten. And we should remember that news reports are not the most accurate log of what actually happened, LOL.
Overall, this case sounds like what would be expected from a Taipan bite, and I think we should discount the news media's use of terms like instant collapse, as the time factors could have been much longer than they appear before symptoms. A 10 minute difference in a snake bite can be huge as to what symptoms appear.
You can find more about Taipan bites at :
http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.snakes.display&id=SN0518
Also, the information available for Brown Snake Envenomations is very similar to Taipan Envenomations, and can be found at :
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/772066-overview
Best Regards
John Z
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