As many as 8,000 people receive venomous snake bites annually in the U.S. — of those bitten, approximately five die, according to the CDC. The number of deaths would be significantly higher if it weren't for medical intervention and the anti-venom crotalidae polyvalent immune fab, otherwise known as CroFab.
Here are five things to know about CroFab.
1. In the U.S., 98 percent of reported snake bites are attributable to crotaline snakes or pit vipers — i.e. rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths. The primary pit viper anti-venom distributed in the U.S. for more than a decade has been CroFab.
2. CroFab is manufactured using venom from four types of North American pit vipers — Mojave rattlesnake, eastern rattlesnake, western rattlesnake and the cottonmouth or water moccasin.
3. Data on the safety of CroFab has been collected since 2001. A recent meta-analysis indicated that the incidence of immediate hypersensitivity reactions to the anti-venom was 8 percent. Learn more about the safety of CroFab here.
4. Trials have shown CroFab to produce a 91 percent clinical response rate among those treated for minimal to moderate pit viper envenomation. Other studies have shown that even when treating severe envenomation, the treatment produces a clinical response 57 percent of the time.
5. It is recommended that CroFab be used within six hours of snakebite to prevent clinical deterioration and the occurrence of systemic coagulation abnormalities.
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