There’s a guy who is (or was) working in the Miami Serpentarium dealing with their collection of venomous reptiles. Apparently this guy regularly injects himself with a cocktail of various snake venoms, a cocktail that he has increased in potency over time until he has now acquired at least a partial immunity to those venoms.
Aside from the obvious and immediate dangers inherent in injecting yourself with CobraMambaViper venom and the likely long-term toll on your liver and kidneys should you live long enough to experience long-term side effects, the resulting purported immunity seems to run directly counter to another one the dangers experienced by keepers of “hot” reptiles:
Repeated exposure to low levels of dried venom in the process of cleaning enclosures (particularly the enclosures of snakes who have spat their venom against the walls of the enclosure) supposedly often results in the development of severe allergic reactions to that venom by the exposed person. The result is that a significant portion of people who die as a result of being bitten by their venomous reptile die, not as a direct result of the neuro or cytotoxic effects of the envenomation, but rather because of anaphalactic shock. Their bodies flood with histimines responding to the “allergen” the person has familiarized his body with through repeated exposure to low levels of airborne venom…
Huh? How do these two scenarios not run counter to each other? Is it just that one person’s hayfever is another’s iocaine powder?
Any keepers of hots, please correct me if I’m wrong on any of the above, I don’t want to put out any more misinformation than already exists on this topic. Any MDs or others with a better understanding of allergies, ditto.
Former venom lab worker here. I think the guy you are referring to is Bill Haast. In the small world of venom labs, he has long been considered a bit nuts for his self-administered doses of venom. While these doses will certainly create some level of immunity, it hardly seems worth the risks and side effects.
On the subject of acquired allergy to snake venom, this is the first I have heard of it. When I was active in the field, I was aware of the danger of anaphylactic shock from receiving doses of horse-serum anti-venom, but never heard or read anything about acquired allergy.
Minton & Minton’s “Venomous Reptiles” cites the case of a lab technician who became sensitized to cobra venom in the process of lyophilizing and weighing samples, “eventually she could no longer open a vial of dry cobra venom without developing symptoms of violent hay fever” (p.99).
I performed those processes many times many years ago. I wore a disposable mask and goggles when handling the powdered stuff. I haven’t been in the presence of dried venom for at least 25 years.
I’ve heard of Bill Haast, and I’ve heard of others who do the same thing. The technique of injecting yourself with venom does seem to work, at least to some degree.
I’ve never heard of the developed allergy mentioned in the OP, and I have no idea why you get an increased immunity in the one case and an increased sensitivity in the other. I will note however that one of the treatments for being allergic to bee stings is a series of increasing injections of bee venom, similar to what the guys do with snake venom. This too would seem to be a bit counter-intuitive, but it works.
I grant you an acquired “tolerance” to a substance may fall well short of what could be considered “immunity” - what intrigues me is why repeated low-level exposure to a toxin seemingly results in increased tolerance/immunity in some instances, but increased sensitivity in other instances…
The theory, such as it is, is that very low levels of exposure to the toxin (particularly when exposed via the skin and airways as with dried venom) stimulates a sensitivity, but does not provide enough stimulation to trigger regulation of the histamine reaction. Over time, this can build up to hypersensitivity.
The low dose injections provide a bigger dose than incidental exposure, and are delivered into (usually) the bloodstream. This triggers both sensitivity and regulation (if it does not kill you via the toxicity), and can lead to increasing tolerance. Airway exposure to possible allergens seems to be an important pathway in the development of life threatening allergic reactions. A recent article in New Scientist noted that the prevalence of apple allergies in europe correlated well with the range of birch trees, which had pollen that has the similar allergenic protein. A similar link may exist between dust-mite feces and shrimp allergy. It is a complex picture, but modern molecular studies are starting to help provide clues.
Desensitisation therapies (as used for bee venom and being trialed for peanut allergies) are becoming very important, but have to managed by professionals, as the risks of a lifethreatening reaction are high.
