Antidotes

An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison" title="Poison">poisoning</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidotes#cite_note-0">[1]</a> The term ultimately derives from the Greek αντιδιδοναι antididonai, "given against".

The antidotes for some particular <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxins" title="Toxins" class="mw-redirect">toxins</a> are manufactured by injecting the toxin into an animal in small doses and extracting the resulting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody" title="Antibody">antibodies</a> from the host animals' blood. This results in an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivenom" title="Antivenom">antivenom</a> that can be used to counteract <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom_%28poison%29" title="Venom (poison)" class="mw-redirect">poison</a> produced by certain species of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake" title="Snake">snakes</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider" title="Spider">spiders</a>, and other venomous animals. A number of venoms lack a viable antivenom, and a bite or sting from an animal producing such a toxin often results in death. Some animal venoms, especially those produced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod" title="Arthropod">arthropods</a> (e.g. certain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider" title="Spider">spiders</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion" title="Scorpion">scorpions</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee" title="Bee">bees</a>, etc.) are only potentially lethal when they provoke allergic reactions and induce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylactic_shock" title="Anaphylactic shock" class="mw-redirect">anaphylactic shock</a>; as such, there is no "antidote" for these venoms because it is not a form of poisoning and anaphylactic shock can be treated (e.g., by the use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephrine" title="Epinephrine">epinephrine</a>).

Some other toxins have no known antidote. For example, the poison <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitine" title="Aconitine">aconitine</a>, a highly poisonous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloid" title="Alkaloid">alkaloid</a> derived from various <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum" title="Aconitum">aconite species</a> has no antidote, and as a result is often fatal if it enters the human body in sufficient quantities.