ABSTRACT
Antivenin was first prepared in 1894, and was the result of several investigations carried out simultaneously in different parts of the world. The successfully scientific immunization of an animal by repeated injections of animal venom was first reported by D. Fornara in 1877. The basic principle is to immunize an animal with venom for production of specific antibodies that will be able to neutralize this venom. Fornara successfully protected a dog after several inoculations of small amounts of toad skin secretions. Later in Michigan, H. Sewall described a similar experiment in 1887. He protected pigeons against the equivalent of six lethal doses (LD) of rattlesnake venom after treating them with gradually increasing doses of venom. Subsequently, in France in 1892, M. Kaufmann reproduced these experiments on a dog inoculated with Vipera aspis venom. The cost of antivenin limits the supply where such a therapy is strongly useful.
