Antivenin

To counteract the potentially harmful effects of a bite by a venomous snake, doctors rely mainly upon a manufactured serum known as antivenin or antitoxin. To prepare antivenin for a certain species of snake, venom from that species is first collected by forcing the snake to release its venom into a vial. Next, increasing amounts of the venom are injected into a healthy horse over a period of days. The immune system of the horse produces protective antibodies in its blood to neutralize the effects of the invading poison.

When a sufficiently hig concentration of antibodies has been produced, a large amount of the horse's blood is drawn off and refined to make a serum. The serum is preserved by refrigeration. It is this serum that is injected into a human snakebite victim's blood-stream, where the horse's antibodies combine with the proteins of the snake's venom to neutralize its toxic effects.

If the victim happens to be allergic to horse blood, the effects of the serum might be very painful or dangerous. Before injecting the antivenin, a doctor will test the victim for allergic reactions. Antivenin should never be administered if the victim is allergic to it. The serum can sometimes cause more damage than the snakebite.

Polyvalent Antivenin

Antivenin is often made by using a mixture of the venoms of various snakes from the same geographical area. In this case, the antibodies produced in the horse will counteract the venom of several species. Such "polyvalent" serum is especially valuable because most snakebite victims cannot identify the exact species of snake that bit them.

The venoms of certain species are chemically unique from all others, so thatit is impossible to manufacture a polyvalent serum that covers every species. Antivenin for the Eastern Coral Snake, for example, must be made only with the venom of that species.

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