Fatal rattlesnake bites rising in U. S. southwest
It could be a change in snake venom, a change in the snakes themselves or something altogether different.
At least five people have died from rattlesnake bites in Arizona since 2002 — three or four of them from the extreme symptoms, said Steve Curry, director of medical toxicology at Banner Poison Control Center in Phoenix.
Curry could recall just five fatal rattlesnake bites in the two decades before 2002.
Scientists and toxicologists can take guesses at what’s behind the increase in extreme symptoms, but no one knows what’s going on. Some say it could be a change in snake venom, a change in the snakes themselves or something altogether different.
“This is a brand new phenomenon,” said Jeffrey Brent, clinical professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. “It should spur a considerable amount of research in the area.”
Rattlesnake bite victims in California began showing symptoms of weakness, breathing trouble and low blood pressure this year, said Richard Clark, director of the division of medical toxicology at the University of California, San Diego.
Go to original by Amanda Lee Myers, AP
