Antitoxins are antibodies found in the gamma globulin in blood protein. They are formed to inactivate poisons, or toxins,
caused by infecting bacteria or other living organisms. In tetanus, for example, tetanus
antitoxin can neutralize the toxin that causes muscle spasms and convulsions before it is bound to nerve cells. Antitoxins can be obtained from the blood of a human who has survived the disease, from the blood of animals (usually horses) that have been
injected with either the bacterium or the toxin, and from the injection of toxoid, a bacterial culture that has been rendered noninfective but that retains enough characteristics to be antigenic, or capable of stimulating antibody production. In acute disease, antitoxin production is too slow after toxoid use, and an antitoxin is injected, as in tetanus or botulism. Injections of toxoids that prevent diphtheria and tetanus are usually given in the early years of life, with "boosters" at appropriate intervals, thus avoiding the need for antitoxin