Brazil milks deadly snakes for their life-saving venom

Gripping the deadly snake behind its jaws, Fabiola de Souza massages its venom glands to squeeze out drops that will save lives around Brazil where thousands of people are bitten every year.

The battle to bring antivenoms to Africa

Snake antivenoms have been around for 125 years, are effective and can be produced cheaply at scale. Yet Africa, with its abundance of deadly snakes, has an alarming shortage of the life-saving medicine.

Taking the bite out of snake venom

According to the World Health Organization, about 100,000 people die from venomous snakebites every year. Many of these fatalities occur in rural areas of developing countries that lack access to antivenoms. That's why researchers ...

High-tech breakthrough in snakebite antivenom

An experimental antivenom has been developed against dendrotoxins from the world's most feared venomous snake, the black mamba, which can be found in Africa. The experiments were carried out in collaboration between DTU and ...

Researchers take a novel approach to snakebite treatment

Researchers at LSTM's Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit are looking at treatment for snakebite in a completely different way and have shown that it is possible to treat the bite from one snake with antivenom produced from ...

Big strides in the push for affordable, effective antivenoms

For city dwellers, especially those in the developed world, the idea of being bitten by a venomous snake seems outlandish. But it is a daily and very real risk for millions around the world – and that includes many people ...

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Antivenom

Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep or goat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom's active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal's blood and used to treat envenomation. Internationally, antivenoms must conform to the standards of Pharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization (WHO).

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