A polyvalent coral snake antivenom with broad neutralization capacity

Coral snakes of the genus Micrurus have a high diversity and wide distribution in the Americas. Despite envenomings by these animals being uncommon, accidents are often severe and may result in death. Producing an antivenom to treat these envenomings has been challenging since coral snakes are difficult to catch, produce small amounts of venom, and the antivenoms produced have shown limited cross neutralization. Here we present data of cross neutralization among monovalent antivenoms raised against M. dumerilii, M. isozonus, M. mipartitus and M. surinamensis and the development of a new polyvalent coral snake antivenom, resulting from the mix of monovalent antivenoms. Our results, show that this coral snake antivenom has high neutralizing potency and wide taxonomic coverage, constituting a possible alternative for a long sought Pan-American coral snake antivenom.
Author summary Coral snakes are distributed in the Americas form Southern United States to Argentina. These snakes cause envenomings that, despite not being common, often lead to death. The antivenoms currently produced to treat accidents caused by these snakes have limitations regarding the number of species venoms they could neutralize. Here, we present an antivenom with a wide spectrum of neutralization, when compared to other Anticoral antivenoms. Nevertheless, more studies are still necessary to evaluate its neutralization capacity against the venoms of other species. This antivenom has great potential, as it neutralizes the lethal effects of some of the most common Micrurus species in the Americas.