Venom Vaccine

[caters]

I have heard of antivenom naturally being produced in honey badgers(they are able to sleep off the venom). My humanoids also naturally produce antivenom as antibodies. But here is the thing. Even with their super immune system, it still takes 5 years(5 Kepler years so that is equivalent to 44 earth years) to get their immune system to maximum strength. But for my humanoids, a 5 year old humanoid is much closer to a 9 year old human than a 44 year old human because my humanoids develop fast and live long in terms of Kepler years(100+) and they age in terms of Kepler years and not earth years.

Anyway, my point is when the civilization advances enough to give a vaccine, there is no doubt that young children(below 5 years old) will encounter at least 1 venomous snake. Without any vaccine or treatment, the child will probably be fine as long as the symptoms are taken care of. But there is a chance that the child might have a near death experience or worse, die. This death and near death would want to be prevented so here is how I think they should go about this:

First they milk the snake to get the venom out(adults don't have to worry about getting bit in the process because of their natural antivenom antibodies).

Second they dilute the venom in saline so that it isn't all that strong.

Third they inject a tiny dose of the diluted venom into the young child's bloodstream. Because there is so little venom in the dose, very few symptoms will come about as a response to the venom(itchiness, pain maybe, and of course a bit of swelling and redness but not much else). This should be enough venom to trigger the immune system to form antibodies against it so that if the child gets bit by the snake that produces that same venom, they will be much less likely to die or have a near death experience, yet a small enough amount so that death isn't caused by the vaccine itself.

Would this work though, injecting tiny amounts of venom to build immunity so that the percentage of snakebites that cause death lowers and aiming for young children to get the venom injection while still below 5 years old?

And would they have to watch the child for a few days after the injection to see if they are allergic to the venom?

 

[Queshire]

It's pretty common in fiction to have someone become immune to a poison by taking small doses of it over time, but I remember hearing once that it wouldn't actually work and could actually lead to death due to the small doses adding up over time until it reaches lethality.

 

[CupofJoe]

I think Queshire is right. It has to do with the nature of the venom/toxin. If it is a neurotoxin then you might actually built up an intolerance to the venom and it would take less and less to get a reaction. But my organic chemistry is pretty weak.
That said it is so often taken as true that most people won't care.

 

[Vaporo]

It had to be done.

I believe this may work for some toxins, but others work directly off of blood chemistry and would require the body to significantly alter itself in order to become become "immune." But, it's your imaginary race. If you say this works with them, then nobody will question it.

 

[RedFable]

What about using snake venom to combat snake venom? That would be considered an a venom vaccine, no different than your typical vaccines.
There's also several theories on using plant poison to cancel out plant poison but from what I have read so far, without any refinement it is not effective. Correct me if I am wrong and please point me towards your source, would love to read up on this subject more!

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Funny anecdote: when I was little I HATED shoes. So I would always go around barefoot. Our yard was covered in white clover and there were lots of bees. Everywhere. And I stepped on bees and got stung ALL. THE. TIME.

(Testament to how much I hated shoes. I have always been the most stubborn piece of work.)

Here's the strange thing: I got stung so much that I gradually started becoming resistant to bee stings. They affected me less and less, until they were really only mildly painful. Now, that resistance has worn off by now, but...back when I got stung all the time, it happened. I have no idea how but somehow it happened. So you can build up a resistance to at least some kinds of venom, I think.

 

[SerpentSun]

"Snake venom", "plant poison", and "neurotoxin" are all very broad categories. I could ramble on endlessly about biochemistry, ethnobotany, and herpetology, so forgive me if I blow your minds. There are reasons the serpent became associated with medicine.

Snake venom is mostly just powerful digestive enzymes, produced by highly modified salivary glands. Proteins and alkaloids that the body can excrete in time. Same for many plant poisons, even strychnine. But you must survive long enough to excrete it and recover.

Can one become immune to those poisons? Certainly, although it does depend on the specific substances involved. Snake handlers have successfully practiced mithradatism for centuries. There may be a few snakes with intolerable venom, but an immunity can even be developed against cobra bites.

It would still come with risks though. Mithradatism usually requires repeated doses of increasing potency. The venom would still irritate the tissue, as you yourself noted, possibly leading to scarring or infection. There is also the risk of allergy, or negative effects from being injected by certain "inactive" ingredients.

Unlike plant alkaloids or snake venom enzymes, the heavy metals and petrochemicals in most injections only accumulate in the body. We evolved over millions of years to best process certain substances. Mithradatism works with many poisons, but not most manmade toxins.

Does the risk of injecting children outweigh the chance of encountering a venomous snake?

Fun Fact; Autistic folks (like myself) contain more snake venom proteins in their cerebrospinal fluid.

And RedFable, you totally can treat plant poison with plant poison. You just need a good understanding of botany and biochemistry. For example, coffee can reverse belladonna or mandrake poisoning, while belladonna can treat both nerve gas poisoning and green potato poisoning. All of which are different neurotoxins.