This was published 7 months ago
Ollie woke with pins and needles in his arm. 15 minutes later he was being rushed to hospital
By Laura Chung
Ollie Kay woke up in the middle of the night last year and thought he had pins and needles in his arm. The 20-year-old shook his arm hoping the effects would wear off. It didn’t. It got worse.
Kay woke up his father, who put some ice on his arm. But after a few more minutes, Kay was shaking and incredibly light-headed. They rushed from their home in Hornsby to the hospital. Only 15 or so minutes had passed and Kay was sweating profusely.
Ollie Kay was sleeping at home in Hornsby Heights when he was bitten by a funnel web spider last year.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“I started to stress, I didn’t know what was happening to me,” he said. “It was so quick, it was pretty scary.”
Kay had been bitten by a deadly funnel-web spider while he slept. Luckily, Kay lives in Australia – home to some of the most developed antivenom in the world.
For the hospitals that administer antivenom in Australia, the laboratories that make them and the patients that need them most, summer is peak season.
Had he not gone to the hospital so quickly, it would have taken about 90 minutes for the venom to shut his body down. These arachnids were responsible for 13 deaths, mainly in children, in the years before an antivenom was developed. Since the antivenom was developed, there have been no reported fatalities.
Where does antivenom come from?
Australia is no stranger to venomous creatures. There are more than 66 venomous species found on and off our shores – including snakes, spiders, jellyfish and insects. Summer and spring are among the peak times for these animals, but your risk will vary depending on where you live.
The most recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows there were more hospitalisations in NSW from venomous plants and animals than anywhere else across the country, with 849 people receiving medical attention in 2017 and 2018.
Meanwhile, Queensland and Victoria had the second and third most hospitalisations, with 851 and 692 people respectively.
The most common culprits nationally were hornets and wasps, followed by spiders and snakes. However, Queensland was the only place where snakes ranked as the second most common animal to hospitalise people.
Antivenom for tiger snakes was developed by CSL Seqirus in the 1930s. It involves milking the deadly animals (as shown here), before turning the raw venom into the lifesaving solution.Credit: CSL Seqirus
Inside labs in Melbourne, scientists wearing gloves, gowns and masks are busy at work. They are producing the lifesaving antivenom that will be used across Australia – and even in the Seychelles off Africa and some Pacific islands. CSL Seqirus is the only facility in the country producing antivenom.
Dr Julianne Bayliss, vaccines and biosecurity medical director at global vaccine provider CSL Seqirus, said 3000 people were hospitalised every year in Australia because of bites and stings.
The company started producing tiger snake antivenom in the 1930s, drawing on local and overseas research. At the time, the company was working with Melbourne Zoo, which collected the venom from snakes. The zoo’s then-director Sir Charles Kellaway was bitten by a tiger snake, and would have died from anaphylaxis had it not been for the antivenom he helped develop.
The antivenom manufacturing process can take up to 18 months.Credit: CSL Seqirus
The antivenom takes between 12 and 18 months to manufacture and is a delicate process, Bayliss said. Zoos and research facilities help collect the raw venom straight from the animal. In the case of funnel-web spiders, NSW’s Australian Reptile Park collects the venom through a process that involves sitting down for up to five hours and milking between 24 and 48 of the creatures.
Every day, up to 36 spiders must be milked to ensure there is enough antivenom supply. The arachnids are housed in individual jars and placed inside a safety container (to prevent any escapes and potential bites).
The keepers then very gently blow on each spider – the slightest movement being enough for the creature to rear up, producing venom on its fangs. Glass pipettes with a very light vacuum are used to collect the venom, which is deposited in a collection jar and safely stored away.
The CSL Seqirus facility injects a small amount of that venom into an animal, such as a horse, that produces natural antibodies.
The horses are given more controlled doses over six months until they have built up sufficient antibodies to the venom.
The horses’ plasma is then taken, and its antibodies are extracted, purified and reduced to a usable form. This becomes the antivenom that will be injected into people, Bayliss said.
How does antivenom work?
When injected into a human, the antibodies neutralise the venom’s effects. Doctors determine how much antivenom to give based on the patient’s symptoms and what species bit or stung them. The age and weight of the victim makes no difference to the dose of antivenom required in the treatment.
“We have a research and development area that is developing new antivenom, but that takes a long time,” Bayliss said. “It is really important work. These medicines save people’s lives.”
Among the countless stories to emerge from the lab is that of the funnel-web antivenom, which was first developed in 1981 by Dr Struan Sutherland and his team.
Milking funnel-web spiders is a bit of a delicate process that is very time-consuming.Credit: CSL Seqirus
The first batch was approved for manufacture and clinical trial just 30 days before it was first used on Sydney engineer Gordon Wheatley. During that time, Sutherland also developed the use of compression and immobilisation in first aid for funnel-web bites, a technique still used today.
In the 1960s the team developed a Polyvalent antivenom that can be used when people aren’t sure what snake they’ve been bitten by. The solution contains the antivenom for brown, tiger, black, death and taipan snakes and is used in Australia and Papua New Guinea. It’s the most common type of antivenom administered nationwide.
Bayliss said one of the greatest challenges is ensuring regional and remote parts of Australia have access to antivenom.
“It’s not as simple as popping it on a plane from Melbourne to Sydney. Sometimes it’s got to be transported by plane, then trucked to a remote region, or sent via boat. We make sure there is enough antivenom distributed across the country.”
But Bayliss said prevention is better than anything: wear long pants, long sleeves and shoes if you’re outside. Gloves if you’re gardening and stay away from wildlife. If you are stung or bitten, contact emergency services and follow their directions.
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