Antivenin, Pit Viper (Systemic)

Brand Names : antivenin (crotalidae) polyvalent, antvenin crotalid serum

Before Receiving This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For pit viper antivenin, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever been bitten by a poisonous snake before and if you have ever had an unusual or allergic reaction to pit viper antivenin, to horses, or to any products of horse origin, such as horse serum. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as preservatives. Before giving you this medicine, your doctor will do a skin test to see whether you are at risk of having a serious reaction to pit viper antivenin or to horse serum (contained in this medicine).

Diet - Make certain your health care professional knows if you are on any special diet, such as a low-sodium or low-sugar diet.

Pregnancy - Studies on effects in pregnancy have not been done in either humans or animals. However, poisoning by pit vipers may result in miscarriages.

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether pit viper antivenin passes into the breast milk. However, pit viper antivenin has not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.

Children - Studies show that children tolerate pit viper antivenin better than do adults. However, children usually have more severe reactions to snakebite poisoning because of the greater amount of poison per body weight. Therefore, children may need larger doses of pit viper antivenin than do adults.

Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults. Although there is no specific information comparing use of pit viper antivenin in the elderly with use in other age groups, this medicine is not expected to cause different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger adults.