Abstract

GOMEZ-CARDONA, Juan P.; GOMEZ-CABAL, Clemencia  and  GOMEZ-CABAL, Marta Lucía. ANTI-OPHIDIC SERA IN COLOMBIA: ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION, SUPPLY, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION NETWORK. Biosalud [online]. 2017, vol.16, n.2, pp.96-116. ISSN 1657-9550.  https://doi.org/10.17151/biosa.2017.16.2.9.

Ophidiotoxicosis or snake accident is a recurring event in Colombia. There are two snake families of epidemiological and clinical importance in the country, vipers and coral snakes. For the snake poisoning treatment, the use of anti-poisonous therapy is mandatory. The sera are manufactured with horse immunoglobulins. Even though these products were discovered more than 100 years ago, still today are constantly changing. Today its industry in Colombia requires a high technification, with processes of efficiency, safety, and high-quality standards. The anti snake sera are not chemical-pharmaceutical products; they are biological products. Therefore, they are not characterized by their chemical composition, but by their therapeutic properties. They are classified as monovalent and polyvalent that, depending on their physical composition, allow neutralizing different kinds of poisons. There are two domestic producers in Colombia (Instituto Nacional De Salud and Probiol Laboratories), and imports are done with a producer from Mexico (Bioclon). The neutralizing capacity and quality vary depending on their composition and manufacturing process associated with some proteins and aggregates, which will influence the type and number of adverse reactions to the medicine. This article intends to contextualize the reader in the manufacturing process, in the problem of scarcity and quality of anti-snake sera in Colombia, providing a valuation to concepts and presenting theoretical foundations that contribute to this issue, and besides, commenting on the current situation of the country because of the shortage of this product.

Keywords : immunoglobulin; antibodies; antivenins; venoms; serotherapy.

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