The only effective treatment for a snake envenomation is the appropriate antivenom. Homeopathic “remedies” for snakebites not only fail to provide healing but also exploit desperate individuals, leading to painful and preventable deaths.

First, let’s clarify some terminology: poisons are ingested, while venoms are injected. Antivenom and antivenin are essentially the same, differing only in semantics. Now, let’s delve deeper.

Homeopathic remedies for snakebites have no efficacy and further victimize patients by taking money from their families and encouraging them to delay proper medical care, wasting crucial time with a useless sham. What’s worse is that these snakebites are treatable with the appropriate antivenom, but when patients waste time and money on such products, they are left without the resources for vital antivenom therapy. It is truly tragic. I have witnessed the agonizing deaths of children due to the greed of these charlatans, and these deaths are far from peaceful. They are absolutely horrific. In my personal opinion, everyone involved in marketing fraudulent snakebite remedies, including the American “Sawyer Venom Extractor” and homeopathic products, should face criminal charges.

Several individuals have been discussing how these medications work (spoiler alert: they don’t) based on the flawed notion that “like destroys like,” which is a fallacy in homeopathy and entirely incorrect. Someone claimed that it works because it is made from krait venom and that “poisonous venom can only be beaten by other poisonous venom.” They also erroneously stated that this is how antivenom works, which is patently false. Firstly, Naja is the Latin name for the snake genus that includes cobras. Cobras belong to the Elapidae family, as do kraits. However, despite their shared family, cobras and kraits do not exhibit paraspecific neutralization between their venoms. This means that even a genuine antivenom developed against krait venom will not treat a cobra bite, and vice versa. Furthermore, even if this product (allegedly made from krait venom, although I highly doubt it contains anything beyond water and useless herbal extracts) were genuine, it is meant to be taken orally. Stomach enzymes can denature venom proteins, allowing one to swallow a shot glass full of venom without suffering ill effects—unless, of course, there are ulcers, esophageal lesions, or other points of entry for venom to enter the bloodstream. In such cases, the consequences would be dire. This product would never be helpful in any way. In all likelihood, there is no actual venom in it since extracting venom from snakes requires skill and time, neither of which seem to have been invested in this product.

Antivenoms are nothing like what this Naja 200 product claims to be. Antivenom contains no venom whatsoever. To understand how antivenom is made, let’s explore the process.

For instance, let’s consider the production of antivenom against the Indian cobra (Naja naja). Venom samples are collected from various Indian cobras, carefully selected to encompass variations in size, age, geographic area, and habitat, ensuring comprehensive coverage against the diverse venom compositions. This usually involves gathering samples from 30 to 40 different snakes, a dangerous and time-consuming process. All venom samples are combined in a large Petri dish, freeze-dried, and sent to specialized pharmaceutical centers. There, the venom is chemically detoxified and then injected in progressively larger doses into large-bodied hooved animals (often horses or sheep) due to their significant blood volumes. Over a period of 3 to 15 months, these animals generate specific antibodies against the venom of Indian cobras. It is crucial to collect venom from numerous Indian cobras to ensure the antivenom can neutralize the venom of any Indian cobra within the region. Once enough antibodies have been produced, the next step can be taken.

Several liters of blood are collected from the animal (an amount that does not cause physical harm), and the antibodies are extracted from the blood plasma. This extract undergoes a rigorous process of filtration, purification, and preparation, which may involve modifying the IgG antibody to alter its size or reactogenicity. Indian cobras have small neurotoxins that circulate more in deep tissues and lymph than in the bloodstream, so cleaving the larger IgG molecule into F(ab)2 or F(ab) fragments—reducing the antibody size—allows for better penetration into deeper tissues. However, it also means the antivenom is eliminated from the body more rapidly. This has various clinical implications, such as dosage determination, risk of inducing anaphylaxis, speed of venom neutralization, and anticipating venom behavior based on patient presentation to determine an appropriate regimen for administering additional doses. After undergoing all these manufacturing steps, the antibodies are transformed into antivenom, packaged into glass vials, and distributed. Most antivenoms are stored in liquid form, with the antivenom molecules suspended in a saline or sterile water solution. However, some newer-generation antivenoms are transitioning to freeze-dried crystalline powder form, which offers better stability in warm regions without reliable refrigeration—where most snakebites occur in developing countries. Antivenoms can be monovalent (neutralizing the venom of a single species) or polyvalent (neutralizing the venom of multiple species). For instance, polyvalent antivenoms are produced to neutralize the venom of the 3 to 10 most dangerous snake species in a large area, such as sub-Saharan Africa.

To summarize the key points:

Antivenom is made using venom (to some extent), but it does not contain any venom itself. Instead, it contains antibodies specific to the venom, which undergo a rigorous process of refinement and modification to create the safest, most effective, and most practical solution for treating snakebites in a particular region. The production of antivenom requires a significant amount of time, personal risk, and effort. The homeopathic notion that venom can be countered with similar venom is entirely incorrect. Finally, to treat a snake envenomation effectively, the appropriate antivenom must be administered by someone who knows how to use it.