New antivenom for scorpions is a first

While not deadly, the sting from a scorpion can be amazingly painful, causing more severe issues in children, who are the most commonly stung. But that is all changing thanks to groundbreaking research by Leslie Boyer and her team.

"Without antivenom, if you've got that bad of a sting, you accept intensive care or you risk death," says Dr. Leslie Boyer, a pediatrician who directs a venom research center in Tucson. Drug companies in the U.S. have little incentive to make antivenom, because it's expensive and there simply aren't enough patients to guarantee a profit. "We in Arizona felt very isolated; we felt abandoned," Boyer says. "This was an orphan disease." That was until Boyer took a trip south of the border and discovered that Mexico has a far bigger scorpion problem. In Mexico, a quarter of a million people are stung by scorpions each year. Some clinics in central Mexico can have dozens of scorpion sting patients per night in the summer. "Mexico has been in the antivenom field for many years, and over many years we have accumulated a big experience on how to make good antivenoms," says Dr. Alejandro Alagon, a professor of biochemistry at Mexico's Autonomous National University. Alagon says 20 years ago hundreds of people in Mexico would die each year from scorpion stings. Alagon is also an adviser to the Mexican drug company that makes the antivenom, which is effective against the same species of scorpion that exists in Arizona.

Congrats to one of the pioneering women in venom research. To read the full article, click here.