Update of antivenom supply for redback spider bites in Japan

Toru Hifumi; Hisashi Taki; Akihiko Yamamoto; Manabu Ato; Yuichi Koido; Yasuhiro Kuroda

doi:10.1186/s40560-014-0070-3

Update of antivenom supply for redback spider bites in Japan

J Intensive Care. 2015 Feb 11;3(1):7. doi: 10.1186/s40560-014-0070-3. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Toru Hifumi¹, Hisashi Taki², Akihiko Yamamoto³, Manabu Ato⁴, Yuichi Koido⁵, Yasuhiro Kuroda¹

Affiliations

¹ Emergency Medical Center, Kagawa University Hospital, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki, Kita, Kagawa 761-0793 Japan.
² Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 1-2-2 Kasumigaseki Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8916 Japan.
³ Department of Bacteriology II, National Institute of Infectious Disease, Gakuen 4-7-1, Musashimurayama-shi, Tokyo, 208-0011 Japan.
⁴ Department of Immunology, National Institute of Infectious Disease, Toyama 1-23-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8640 Japan.
⁵ Division of Critical Care Medicine and Trauma, National Hospital Organization Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, 190-0014 Japan.

Abstract

In autumn 2014, with great effort by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the research group will obtain several vials of redback spider (RBS) antivenom for emergency use. However, these small amounts of antivenom are insufficient to cover the demands from majority of hospitals in Japan. The research group carefully discussed the domestic RBS antivenom production by themselves for this emergency. We have now entered the second stage for large-scale antivenom production. Although the domestic production of RBS antivenom has started, great caution is required as we move forward with this plan.

Keywords: Antivenom; Domestic production; Redback spiders.