antallergy.org

Wed 7 APR 2004

The Opposition is supporting moves to further develop a treatment for jack jumper allergy sufferers.

Opposition health spokeswoman Sue Napier said Royal Hobart Hospital staff who had developed the anti-venom treatment had applied to the Federal Government for support.

Mrs Napier said she would lobby the Federal Government for the venom extract to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

She also urged the State Government to sponsor the commercialisation and work with the hospital to find an industry partner.

WED 07 APR 2004

By DANNY ROSE

THE doctor who spear-headed Tasmania’s world-leading jack jumper ant allergy research says the program is being held up by a lack of State Government funding.

Simon Brown said the potentially life-saving program needed just $150,000 more a year but the State Government had failed to make it a priority.

Dr Brown, who now works in WA, spoke out yesterday after a week of political argument over funding for the program.

Mon 5 APR 2004

By MARIA RAE

A Southern Midlands woman who is too scared to leave her house during summer is frustrated at the decision not to extend the jack-jumper immunotherapy programme at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Educational consultant Maria Fletcher said her allergy was threatening her quality of life as every time she was stung she suffered severe symptoms that led to hospitalisation.

“The frightening thing is that it happens within seconds,” Ms Fletcher said.

Last year she was told she could have the anti-venom treatment that immunises against the potentially fatal ant bite because the hospital’s programme would have its funding extended.

But in February when she rang the hospital to organise an appointment, she was told the funding was no longer available.

MON 05 APR 2004

By DANNY ROSE

A row has erupted over Tasmania’s world-leading work to develop a cure for life-threatening ``jack jumper’’ allergies.

The Liberal Opposition yesterday said the Royal Hobart Hospital’s acclaimed program faced a shortage of State Government funding.

Liberal health spokeswoman Sue Napier said some Tasmanians had signed on for the ant-sting desensitising treatment late last year, only to have their appointments cancelled.

Mrs Napier said Maria Fletcher, of Yarlington near Colebrook, was highly allergic to the ants and had been devastated by the cancellation.

FRI 21 MAR 2003

By MICHELLE PAINE

Tasmanian researchers have developed a life-saving treatment for jack jumper ant stings.

The world breakthrough will be recognised in the leading medical journal The Lancet tomorrow, Health Minister David Llewellyn announced yesterday.

Leading the study was Royal Hobart Hospital emergency medicine specialist Simon Brown—who nearly died from his first bad reaction to a jack jumper sting while collecting his last batch of venom for the project.

BBC News - World Edition

People allergic to ant stings can be immunised against potentially fatal reactions, researchers have found.

see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2864939.stm

THU 20 MAR 2003

Hansard
House of Assembly

Ms HAY (Question) - Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Health and Human Services. Can the minister advise the House of some ground-breaking medical research in Tasmania that will save lives and help thousands of Tasmanians?

Mr LLEWELLYN - Mr Speaker, I thank the member for her question, and as a matter of fact I can and it is pretty exciting news. I am pleased to be able to advise the House of a life-saving breakthrough in a very important Tasmanian medical research project. Today an international announcement is being made to coincide with the publication on Saturday in the world’s leading medical journal, the Lancet , that an effective treatment has been established for people with allergic reaction to jack-jumper ant stings. The research has proven that there is an effective protection from life-threatening allergic reactions to jack-jumper stings.

TUE 19 NOV 2002

By KANE YOUNG

Life-threatening allergic reactions to insect stings are a serious problem in Tasmania, with jack jumpers—not bees or wasps—the major culprits.

A study by the Royal Hobart Hospital has found that 4.5 per cent of the population is allergic to insect stings, with many people, especially the elderly, prone to life-threatening reactions (anaphylaxis).

The jack jumper ant—which grips the skin with powerful jaws and injects venom with an abdominal stinger—is largely responsible.

SUN 9 SEP 2001

A pioneering Tasmanian research project on jack-jumper allergy will be extended to North-West Coast residents after a generous donation yesterday.

The Royal Hobart Hospital’s research foundation, which is conducting the desensitising project, was presented with a cheque for $15,000 from the former Clarence Jaycees.

The money will allow an expansion of the project. The foundation’s researchers are trialling a desensitisation treatment for people with severe allergic reactions to jack- jumper ants.

July 2001 - University of Technology Sydney

In a development that promises a new approach to cancer therapy, UTS researchers have developed a chemical “warhead” - known as an immunotoxin - that effectively targets malignant cells with a new toxin found in an Australian ant.

Professor Robert Raison of the Cell and Molecular Biology Department describes the ant toxin and the vehicle for delivering it as “a guided missile”.

The research - funded by a $285,000 ARC Strategic Partnerships with Industry Research and Training (SPIRT) grant over three years - is being conducted by a UTS team in collaboration with industrial partner Dr Brian Baldo of NSL Health.

The team headed by Professor Raison comprises doctoral students Mr Andre Choo from Singapore, Ms Susan Lemke and postdoctoral researcher Dr Rosanne Dunn, whose doctoral thesis supervised by Professor Raison focused on this area.

The immunotoxin, which incorporates a major component from the venom of the jumper ant Myrmecia pilosula is four times more potent than an immunotoxin derived from bee venom, which the team investigated in an earlier research project.

SUN 17 JUN 2001

Many would have difficulty finding the link between jack jumper ants and hearing aids, but Hobart audiometerist David Booth not only found it: he used one to fund the other.

And thanks to a good idea and some shrewd marketing, Mr Booth has now helped raise more than $4000 for medical research in Tasmania.

It began more than two years ago when a young medical researcher addressed a meeting of the Sandy Bay Rotary club about jack jumper bites.

Information sheet on Myrmecia in Australia.

WED 27 DEC 2000

By SEAN STEVENSON

Tasmanian researchers plan to begin trials of a new antivenene to jack jumper bites by July.

The research team, headed by Royal Hobart Hospital director of emergency medicine Simon Brown, is negotiating a commercial agreement with Victorian interests.

Dr Brown said a successful antivenene could provide a small income for the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation, but the project was about saving the lives of a few and improving the quality of life for many.

Australian Research Council

As pilosulin is intrinsically more toxic than melittin and has patent protection, we propose that a pilosulin-based immunotoxin will result in a more effective, and commercially viable, reagent for the treatment of selected cancers.

WED 28 JUN 2000

By MELANIE ALCOCK

A major research project into jack-jumper ant allergies will be undertaken by a Hobart doctor after a $150,000 research grant.