Two summers ago, 9-year-old Oakley Yoder from Indiana was having a great time at camp . . . right up until the moment when a copperhead sank its fangs into her foot. “It happened at dusk,” says Oakley. “I was on a trail in the woods with my group. We were hiking back from a rock climbing activity, and I felt like I stepped on something prickly.”
Oakley thought she might have been scratched by some thorns, but then searing pain shot through her right foot. She cried out to her counselors. They took one look at the pair of oozing puncture wounds on the girl’s toe and knew that Oakley had been bitten by a snake—a venomous one. Copperhead venom wreaks havoc on blood vessels and soft tissues of the body. In the minutes and hours after a bite, a victim will experience internal bleeding and a potentially lethal drop in blood pressure. Oakley had to get to a hospital, fast.
Doctors need to treat venomous snakebites swiftly with injections of antivenom. This medication can halt venom in its tracks and prevent it from harming a snakebite victim’s body any further. “As antivenom flows through the bloodstream, it finds molecules of venom and neutralizes them,” says Dr. Leslie Boyer. Boyer is a toxinologist—a scientist who studies the effects of venom. She was also the founding director of the VIPER Institute at the University of Arizona, which aims to learn more about how venoms work. “Unfortunately, antivenom cannot reverse damage that venom has already done,” says Boyer. So, to minimize the amount of time venom has to harm a victim’s body, it is urgent to treat a snakebite ASAP.
Two summers ago, 9-year-old Oakley Yoder from Indiana went to camp. She was having a great time . . . until a copperhead sank its fangs into her foot. “It happened at dusk,” says Oakley. “I was on a trail in the woods with my group. We were hiking back from a rock climbing activity, and I felt like I stepped on something prickly.”
Oakley thought some thorns might have scratched her. But then burning pain shot through her right foot. She cried out to her counselors. They took one look at the two oozing puncture wounds and knew what had happened. Oakley had been bitten by a venomous snake. Copperhead venom causes serious harm to blood vessels and soft tissues of the body. In the minutes and hours after a bite, a victim will bleed internally. Blood pressure can drop low enough to cause death. Oakley had to get to a hospital, fast.
Doctors need to treat venomous snakebites quickly. They use injections of antivenom. This medication can stop venom from harming the body further. “As antivenom flows through the bloodstream, it finds molecules of venom and neutralizes them,” says Dr. Leslie Boyer. Boyer is a toxinologist—a scientist who studies the effects of venom. She was also the founding director of the VIPER Institute at the University of Arizona. Its goal is to learn more about how venoms work. “Unfortunately, antivenom cannot reverse damage that venom has already done,” says Boyer. So it’s important to treat a snakebite as soon as possible. That way, venom has less time to harm a victim’s body.