The word for an antitoxin that counteracts venom is antivenin. Antivenom is not traditionally a dictionary-recognized word, though it’s so often used in place of antivenin that a few dictionaries have given up and added it.
Because spell-check catches antivenom but not the hyphenated anti-venom, the latter occurs on the web far more often than the unhyphenated version.
Examples
In these sentence, antivenin should replace antivenom:
Early treatment with antivenom has far better rates of success than later treatment when the pet is showings signs of poisoning. [Rockhampton Morning Bulletin]
Extra antivenom has been flown in to Rockhampton to deal with the potential spike in snakebites. [Time]
Most major publications use the correct word—for example:
For a child, you often have 20 minutes, not 60, to figure out what kind of antivenin to use . . . [Washington Post]
He went to the hospital and received a dose of antivenin. [Guardian]
There’s only a short period to get the antivenin, and death by respiratory failure comes within hours. [Sydney Morning Herald]
