Insect stings

Insect and spider bites can cause an allergic reaction. Stinging insects (such as honey bees, yellow jackets, hornets, wasps, and fire and harvester ants) are more likely to cause an allergic reaction than biting insects (mosquitoes, horseflies, deerflies, spiders, bedbugs, and black flies).

Most bites and stings do not require emergency medical care. However, a small number of people develop severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) to insect stings.

Allergic reactions to insect bites or stings occur very quickly, usually within minutes. Severe reactions, although rare, can be rapidly fatal if untreated. According to the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology's 2007 Allergy Statistics:

Symptoms

Common symptoms include:

Serious allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) occur when symptoms spread. These can include difficulty breathing, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, fever, muscle spasms, or loss of consciousness. If any of these symptoms occur, call for emergency medical help right away.

First aid for minor reactions

First aid for serious reactions

If the person is having a severe reaction or has been stung inside the mouth or throat, call 911 immediately for emergency medical assistance.

Treatment

Non-serious, local reactions usually go away in three to seven days with no treatment. For symptom relief, use an ice pack or wet compresses. (Or, 1 tsp. meat tenderizer mixed with 1 tsp. water applied to bite.)

Drug therapies include:

If the reaction is serious enough that a hospital visit is warranted, antihistamines may be given intravenously and epinephrine (adrenaline) may be administered. Sometimes serious reactions happen again soon after the first reaction stops. Your provider may want to observe you for 8 - 12 hours.

Preventing insect stings and bites

If you have had a serious reaction to an insect bite, keep an emergency insect sting kit and wear a medical alert bracelet.

Reference

Golden DB, Moffitt J, Nicklas RA, et al. Stinging insect hypersensitivity: A practice parameter update 2011. J Allergy Clinical Immunology. April 2011;127(4):852-854.e23.

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Review Date: 6/29/2011
Reviewed By: Paula J. Busse, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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