Talk:Antivenin
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[edit] Application / treatment
"Antivenoms typically need to be administered as soon as possible after the venom has been injected to be effective (up to 4-5 hours)."
I think this is not always true. It may depend on the kind of venom (ie, the kind of animal the venom came from). In the case of Australian snakes of family Elapidae, antivenin has been used apparently effectively with longer delays, in some cases over 24 hours. In those cases the main toxic agents are neurotoxins and proper first aid can sometimes delay the onset of symptoms for hours or days. At one stage (warning: this was the 1980s and i was never any kind of expert) the typical procedure was apparently to wait for symptoms before using antivenin for Australian snake bite. I think quick treatment might be more important for other kinds of venom, especially those that cause tissue necrosis. Ideally it would be nice if experts from several parts of the world check this out before rewriting. I definitely don't feel qualified to hack the main page myself.
[edit] Antivenom or Antivenin?
Is there a difference between antivenom and antivenin?
- Regardless, usagse should be consistent within the article Bdoserror 21:30, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
- The way I see it, the primary difference is that "antivenin" is in the dictionary whereas "antivenom" is not. 24.245.45.98 03:59, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- Which dictionary? The MedTerms Dictionary at MedicineNet.Com [1] lists 'antivenom' as a synonym for 'antivenin'. -- Donald Albury(Talk) 12:01, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- Three examples: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary. If you go to Encyclopedia.com [2] and search for "antivenin," the article returned talks about it in the context of being an immune serum for venom. If you do the same for "antivenom," you will find no results. It seesm that "antivenin" is the correct term, but "antivenom" is gaining currency in the language thanks to its widespread (albeit erroneous) use. I acknowledge that people use the word "antivenom" to mean "antivenin," but as "antivenin" appears to be the more official term, it seems that the article should be titled "Antivenin" instead of "Antivenom." -Jeff 24.245.45.98 12:22, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- There is also the issue of under which name are users more likely to look for it. I would suspect that would be 'antivenom'. 'Antivenin' redirects to 'Antivenom'. It's a question of giving emphasis to the technically correct term, or to the term that is more 'intuitive'. Switching the current setup would require an admin to delete the current 'Antivenin' redirect that that 'Antivenom' could be moved to 'Antivenin.' -- Donald Albury(Talk) 14:06, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- It wouldn't require an admin to do that. Just edit the Antivenin page, and turn this one into a redirect. PenguiN42 23:21, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
- Cut-and-paste moves mess up the history. In order to properly preserve the page history, it is always better to move the page. If an existing redirect has no history other than as a redirect, it is better to delete the redirect and then move the article. -- Donald Albury(Talk) 23:27, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
- There seemed no reason not to, so I've made the move. Now it reflects the correct term, and users who search for "antivenom" will still find the information that they want. And as you can see, the history has not been affected.
- Sjc196 08:40, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
- Cut-and-paste moves mess up the history. In order to properly preserve the page history, it is always better to move the page. If an existing redirect has no history other than as a redirect, it is better to delete the redirect and then move the article. -- Donald Albury(Talk) 23:27, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
- It wouldn't require an admin to do that. Just edit the Antivenin page, and turn this one into a redirect. PenguiN42 23:21, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
- There is also the issue of under which name are users more likely to look for it. I would suspect that would be 'antivenom'. 'Antivenin' redirects to 'Antivenom'. It's a question of giving emphasis to the technically correct term, or to the term that is more 'intuitive'. Switching the current setup would require an admin to delete the current 'Antivenin' redirect that that 'Antivenom' could be moved to 'Antivenin.' -- Donald Albury(Talk) 14:06, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- Three examples: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary. If you go to Encyclopedia.com [2] and search for "antivenin," the article returned talks about it in the context of being an immune serum for venom. If you do the same for "antivenom," you will find no results. It seesm that "antivenin" is the correct term, but "antivenom" is gaining currency in the language thanks to its widespread (albeit erroneous) use. I acknowledge that people use the word "antivenom" to mean "antivenin," but as "antivenin" appears to be the more official term, it seems that the article should be titled "Antivenin" instead of "Antivenom." -Jeff 24.245.45.98 12:22, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- Which dictionary? The MedTerms Dictionary at MedicineNet.Com [1] lists 'antivenom' as a synonym for 'antivenin'. -- Donald Albury(Talk) 12:01, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- The way I see it, the primary difference is that "antivenin" is in the dictionary whereas "antivenom" is not. 24.245.45.98 03:59, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
Antivenom is definitely the preferred medical term, the article name shouldn't have been changed, antivenin is an old and outdated term which is rarely used anymore. What definitely shouldn't have been changed is the trade name of the antivenoms listed in the article, go to Australia and ask for box jellyfish antivenin and they all think you're crazy (the trade name is box jellyfish antivenom). Also shouldn't have changed the name of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Anti-Venin Bank, (follow the link the name of the place is Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Antivenom Bank) or the name of a article in the references, the title of the paper is: Failure of intramuscular antivenom in Red-back spider envenoming. I would recommend changing it all back.Mr Bungle 12:57, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
