Insect sting allergy: Are you at risk?

Stinging insects cause allergies to about two million Americans. The extent of these allergies varies greatly. Majority of people may not be allergic to stings of an insect, and to them it just might cause a bit of swelling and itching. However, many have serious allergic reactions. Each year, about 50-150 people die due to insect stings, while millions visit hospitals due to this problem. If insect stings cause you allergies, then there is about sixty percent chance that your next sting would be as bad or even worse that the last one. The risk is the greatest during the fall and the summer, since most stings occur during this time.

What are the types of insect sting reactions?
Majority of insect sting reactions do not cause allergies and only cause little itching, pain, redness at the place of the insect sting and swelling. You may also expect the swelling to extend a bit. For these reactions, usually a local treatment is enough. Apply an ice after disinfecting and cleaning the area. Steroids may be used if the swelling causes an increase in antihistamines. Antibiotics must be used if the site becomes infected. Large non allergic, local reactions (occurring for about ten percent of the times) can be disturbing and continue for days. These are generally not very serious, and can be treated as above.

The most serious is the allergic reaction. The reaction differs from one person to the other. Anaphylaxis is the most serious one and maybe fatal. The reaction can be very serious if one experiences severe itching at areas other than the site of sting, or hives, or suffers from breathing difficulties, hoarseness, swallowing problems, swollen tongue, fainting and dizziness. Though these kinds of reactions mostly occur immediately after the sting, they maybe delayed for about twenty four hours. It is important to treat it promptly, and it may even require emergency help.

How to treat a serious allergic reaction immediately?
Honey bee stings are extremely harsh, which stay behind so the skin of the person while the bee dies, probably as a sacrifice! More venom can be injected into one’s skin, if the stinger is pinched to be removed. A better option is removing the stinger by lifting it gently with a finger nail or maybe a knife edge, so as to 'flick' it out of the skin. However this method is not applicable for other stinging insects that are not known for leaving stingers behind.

Epinephrine (adrenaline) can be used to treat an allergic reaction. Many self – inject able devices, like ANA-Kit and Epi-Pen, are available these days by prescription. Full of epinephrine, these are injected (preferably in the thigh’s front) into the subcutaneous muscle or tissue.