ANTIVENOMS FOR BORDER BITES AND STINGS

No matter which side of the border you get stung by a scorpion or bitten by a snake, the potentially fatal venom is unbearably inescapable and immediate medical treatment is crucial.

Fortunately, The University of Arizona's college of medicine is home to the VIPER Institute, which stands for, Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response.

VIPER researchers study, “venom injuries” through the genealogy, or family tree, of venomous creatures to develop treatments such as antivenoms, said Dr. Leslie Boyer, founding director of the VIPER Institute.

Currently the group is working with a firm in Mexico, Instituto Bioclon, to develop an antivenom for scorpion stings known in the United States as Anascorp and in Mexico as Alacramyn.

“The work that I’m doing probably could not be done by either country alone. What the United States has to offer with our difficult [Food and Drug Administration] is the standard of proof, to say a drug is effective is very high,” Boyer said.

Dr. Leslie Boyer holding a snake. Photo courtesy of Margaret Hartshorn, senior photographer for Biomedical Communications at The University of Arizona, college of medicine.

VIPER consists of more than 125 national and international scientists and clinicians from all different fields and includes the doctors who participate in the clinical studies that test the potential antivenoms.

The FDA has never approved an antivenom for scorpion stings even though there are roughly 250 scorpion sting cases in Arizona and 250,000 cases in Mexico each year, Boyer said.

VIPER also collaborates with Dr. Alejandro Alagon from Mexico’s Instituto de Biotecnología, or Biotechnology Institute, in Cuernavaca, Morelos Mexico and is a part of the La Universidad Nacional Autónoma De México.

Through this collaboration, biochemistry students from the Biotechnology Institute and pharmacy and medicine students from the UA exchange research and learn from one another’s resources.

“By doing all of that together, we’re offering training opportunities for students that you couldn’t get in either country and we are developing drugs in a better way than you could in either country,” Boyer said.

This collaboration is partially funded through CONACYT, which is akin to the U.S. National Science Foundation, Boyer said.

CONACYT funds research and education at Mexican universities and has several collaborative programs at the UA, including the VIPER Institute. CONACYT indirectly funds the VIPER institute by financing the UA researchers’ travel expenses to Mexico to conduct this research.

VIPER is also developing a rattlesnake antivenom and researching the most cost-effective and overall efficient manner to deliver antivenoms to hospitals and patients.

The group began as an informal partner to the Arizona Poison Center in 2004 and in 2007 was granted institute status by the Arizona Board of Regents. It is funded through state and federal grants, including grants from the FDA and the companies that produce the antivenoms.

CARE FOR CAMPESINOS

Various Farmworkers. Photo courtesy of campesinossinfronteras.org.

Campesinos toil in the dark hours of early morning and into Arizona’s mid-day blistering heat.

A major struggle for these seasonal farmworkers is accessing proper healthcare. The work environment coupled with the health risks of the Hispanic race, create an unhealthy situation in desperate need of care.

But there is a glimmer of hope, Campesinos Sin Fronteras, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing health, housing and social services as well as advocacy for migrant workers and their families. The organization, established in 1997, also aids low to moderate income individuals in Yuma, Ariz. and rural communities like, Somerton, Ariz. and San Luis, Ariz.

"Most of them do not have access to medical services because they can’t afford health insurance,” said Hilda Lopez, executive assistant for the organization. “We go out and promote healthy lifestyles or we do health fairs where we give free medical services.”

Farmworkers typically suffer from stress and bone and joint problems from the demanding physical labor, she added.

“Because of the situation that they work in and because most of them don’t speak English, that creates a lot of stress for them and stress brings along a lot of other health issues,” Lopez said.

Campesinos spend hours laboring in the fields; a trade foreign to the average American. Despite the imbalance of labor, there is an even greater imbalance in access to vital healthcare.

Campesinos Sin Fronteras offers several programs to combat this disparity.

The Campesinos Diabetes Management Program assists individuals or the family of an individual afflicted with type 2 diabetes, Lopez said. It provides education about care and self management.

A volunteer with the The Campesinos Diabetes Management Program. Photo courtesy of campesinossinfronteras.org.

The organization also offers preventative programs such as, Alma, Corazon y Vida, or Soul, Heart and Life, which encourages healthy lifestyles choices to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Campesinos Sin Fronteras also offers housing services like, the Home Ownership Counseling Program which provides information and assistance to low-income, first-time home buyers.

This organization could not operate without the, “Promotores.” Promotores are employees and volunteers who serve as the link between the community and the resources.

A volunteer with Alma, Corazon y Vida. Photo courtesy of campesinossinfronteras.org.

These individuals are fluent in Spanish and work in community centers, churches, schools and even the fields to improve the health status of the community and eliminate health disparities.

The need for health care among campesinos, migrants and individuals living along the border is often ignored.
Campesinos Sin Fronteras fills in the gap between what is deserved and what is given.

Campesinos Sin Fronteras works with various community organizations, faith-based groups and local governments to provide care for more than 10,000 people each year, according to their Web site. The organization is funded through various state and federal grants.

HEALING ON THE LINE

Some Mexican citizens are willing to risk their life for a chance in the United States, battling Arizona's unforgiving summer sun and the callous landscape of the Sonoran Desert.

In the past 15 years, roughly 5,000 dead migrant bodies have been discovered along the United States-Mexico border, said Walt Staton, a volunteer with No More Deaths.

In 2004, No More Deaths, also known as No Más Muertes, was created to prevent death and suffering along the border and provide humanitarian aid to migrants crossing the border.

Volunteers find shade under a tarp at the Arivaca Camp tent, one of the migrant aid stations. Photo courtesy of NoMoreDeaths.org.

“What we’re trying to do is recognize that these are human beings, these are families, moms and dads and kids that are trying to figure out a way to make it in the world and we want to support that,” Staton said.

For many migrants their exhausting journey is thwarted by the United States Border Patrol. Within 24 hours of being caught, they are fingerprinted, identified and deported back to Mexico, Staton said.

But just past the portal of entry in Nogales, Sonora, Agua Prieta, Sonora and Naco, Sonora are the No More Death’s migrant aid centers. These centers provide basic health care for cuts, scratches and dehydration as well provide food, water and clothing.

“They come to us in just as bad if not worse condition then even when they were picked up in the desert,” Staton said.

A volunteer wraps the foot of someone at a migrant aid center.
Photo courtesy of NoMoreDeaths.org

If a migrant arrives in a more serious condition, such as diabetic shock, volunteers will transport him or her to a hospital. The volunteer will stay with the migrant and act as an advocate for him or her at the hospital.

“These migrant centers give people a chance to rest and relax and think about if they want to cross again or if they want to go home, if they want to go home we can get them bus tickets and things like that to get back,” Staton said.

No More Deaths works with the Mexican Consulate, the Mexican Red Cross and various faith-based and community organizations and operates entirely through donations.

Staton said doctors and nurses often volunteer at the migrant aid centers, but no matter their profession, these volunteers are saving the lives of migrants by attending to their physical and mental health.

Volunteers at the migrant aid centers also monitor the border patrol’s treatment of migrants.

In 2008, No More Deaths wrote a report as part of their advocacy for change in border policies. The report,"Crossing the Line", documented the border patrol’s abuses of migrants’ human rights.

As long as there is a division between nations and principles, the work of No More Deaths will be essential for those who fall in between the division.

Volunteers raise a flag with a green cross, a symbol of aid in Latin America. Photo courtesy of NoMoreDeaths.org.

“Immediately we’re […] assessing where the need is the greatest and where we are the most effective,” Staton said. “The ultimate future is to put ourselves out of business.”

A MOTHER'S SEARCH FOR HOPE

When Jenny Culver Hill’s son, Walter Ben, was diagnosed with autism, her search for answers was tirelessly echoed by the phrase, “There’s nothing we can do for your son.”

Since autism isn’t specific to any one family, let alone one culture, Culver Hill decided that help shouldn’t be either.

In 1998, she created Angel's Purse, an organization that provides practical assistance for families battling autism, particularly those who cannot afford the care and resources.

Based in her Nogales, Ariz. home, Angel’s Purse provides translations of autism information and resources into Spanish, a lending library of books and videos on autism and personal development, nutritional supplements and the Sensory Learning Program.

These nutritional supplements are provided at no cost. For the first five years, Culver Hill purchased all of the supplements, until manufacturers like Kirkman Laboratories and Nordic Naturals began donating supplements, she said.

“I’ve had kids who have turned around completely to the point where the doctor says, ‘Oh, I must’ve made a mistake, this child does not have autism,’” said Culver Hill, director of Angel’s Purse. “That’s pretty exciting. I’m a volunteer but the payoff is when the kids get better.”

The Sensory Learning Program is a 12-day intervention that “re-wires the hard drive” through a combination of motion, light and sound therapies, Culver Hill said. This program typically costs $2,600 but she offers it in her home free of charge.

“Imagine a big traffic jam and a detour because the new neuropathways that are formed are like detours around big traffic jams in their brain,” she said.

Angel’s Purse also hosts conferences every other year and has hosted two international conferences on Autism in Spanish.

Artwork by Walter Ben Hill. Cruella De Vil's car (top), The Little Engine that Could (Middle), and a tractor from Thomas the Tank Engine.

Culver Hill’s dedication to this cause has not gone unnoticed.

Ten years ago she discovered a group across the border called, “Venciendo al Autismo” or Defeat Autism. The group was created three years ago and is comprised of parents who have utilized the services of Angel's Purse since its creation.

Aside from the support of her family and a recently-hired assistant, Culver Hill manages Angel’s Purse on her own.

The organization operates entirely through donations but has been awarded grants from the Santa Cruz Community Foundation and has received $500 from the Nogales Masonic Lodge No. 11 for the past three years.

Culver Hill plans to focus on writing her book, “Wally B. Well,” about her experiences as a mother with an autistic child.

Culver Hill ignored the doctors’ hopeless prognosis for her son and created Angel’s Purse to find the answers that families on both sides of the border were searching for.

“I think there’s a social stigma about autism no matter where you live. I think parents are becoming more assertive in advocating for their kids because there’s a big problem that’s not being addressed,” Culver Hill said.