PROYECTS | FUNDACION VIVARIUM

Snakebite Prevention Center

The Snakebite Prevention Center was created in response to the need to implement educational and preventive measures to reduce the incidence of snakebite-related accidents.

At the Vivarium Foundation, we consider education essential in any setting connected to wildlife. For this reason, we work closely with the Education Department, a fundamental pillar of our work. We firmly believe that without an educational approach, no facility dedicated to wildlife should exist. The main objective of our Center is to educate communities on strategies to minimize contact with snakes and to know how to act in the event of an encounter or an accident.

The Center’s mission is to reach the communities most affected by this problem, especially children and socioeconomically vulnerable populations. We aim to promote prevention and environmental education as key tools to reduce the number of snakebite cases requiring hospital care, saving lives and improving the quality of life of communities.

Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center

The Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (CRRF) is a project dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity outside its natural environment. Its primary mission is to restore the health, physical functionality, and natural behavior of wild species in need, including those originating from seizures carried out by enforcement units and environmental authorities; specimens found in captivity; victims of illegal wildlife trade; animals kept as pets outside their natural habitat; or individuals affected by accidents and human activities such as habitat destruction or indiscriminate hunting.

Poison Bank

The objective of the Serpentarium of the Vivarium Foundation is to milk and obtain the venom of a wide range of snakes of medical importance in order to have sufficient raw material for the manufacture of the antidote, as well as to enrich and design the best possible immunogen for the making a more efficient antidote.

The Poisons Bank will have a laboratory, separate from the management area, specialized in the use of vacuum thermo concentrators for the desiccation, identification, conservation and storage of poisons, it will produce characterization and quality control standards for the formulation of mixtures and their use in the production of antidotes, thus guaranteeing the versatility characteristic recommended by the World Health Organization in its guide to the production, control and regulation of antivenoms for snakes, issued in 2010.

Venom together with hyperimmune plasma are the raw material in the production of antivenoms, the Poison Bank will have the ability to provide a high quality raw material not only for the manufacture of antidotes but also for scientific studies and research lines of uses. alternatives to poison for therapeutic purposes.

Most snake venoms have a number of molecules with specific activity on specific proteins and receptors in the human body. These characteristics make poisons sources of inspiration to design new molecules with pharmacological activity, which contribute to proposing new medical treatments for cancer, thrombosis, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular disorders or some cardiovascular disorders.

Bank of Antidotes

Purified Immunoglobulin (Antivenom Serum) is the only therapeutic product to treat snakebite poisoning. The lack of availability of the serum has become a critical health problem. Complexity in efficient antidote production, decreased production, and fragility in distribution systems endanger the availability of these biologics. Pharmaceutical companies are leaving the market, production is half what it should be, and costs are increasing on a product considered essential.

In October 2005, the WHO Expert Committee recognized the magnitude of the problem and called for strengthening global capacity to ensure a sufficient and long-term supply of a safe and efficient antivenom. In March 2007, immunoglobulins were included on the WHO Essential Medicines List in recognition of their important role in the primary health care system. Snake bites kill around 140,000 people each year, this phenomenon has been described as " possibly the greatest hidden health crisis in the world ." In the time you have spent reading this article, 20 people have been bitten, 10 have been injected with poison, and two will die or be permanently disabled.

The Vivarium Foundation proposes the creation of Serum Banks to reinforce national distribution schemes and guarantee availability of the antidote at any time, likewise it is sought reduce the period of time that elapses between the moment of the bite and the application of the antidote as a method that contributes significantly to the effectiveness of the treatment.