Snake Venom Treatment

Will eating a leaf with chlorophyll provide relief to a person bitten by a venomous snake? No, that's not true: A board-certified emergency medicine toxicologist specializing in herpetology and envenomation (exposure to poison from a bite or sting) treatment told Lead Stories, "Chlorophyll does not neutralize snake venom." A botany expert also told Lead Stories there is "no scientific basis…

Do COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and treatments for the virus come from snake venom and do the vaccines then cause humans to produce venom in their bodies? In addition, is nicotine the "perfect antidote" for COVID, making the vaccines unnecessary? No, none of those things are true: These assertions have no basis in science, infectious disease experts told Lead Stories. The…

Rather than a virus, is COVID-19 instead snake venom being used to poison people or turn them into satanic hybrids? No, that's not true: The claim is part of an elaborate conspiracy theory packed into an anti-vaccine documentary filled with falsehoods, scare tactics and religious imagery that takes viewers from the Garden of Eden to modern times. The virus that…

Did a "rattle head" snake bite a child in the summer of 2021? No, that's not true: This claim is missing context, as the photo with a post seeking prayers is from a 2019 news account of a 2-year-old South Carolina child who was bitten by a copperhead and survived after hospital treatment. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

Is Benadryl a helpful first-aid treatment for venomous snakebites? No, that's not true: This anecdote about using Benadryl as a part of first-aid care for a person who has been bitten by a venomous snake is not supported by evidence or the current advice for emergency care of snakebites by toxicology experts. The story seems to have appeared on Facebook…