Allergy to honey: relation to pollen and honey bee allergy.

Honey bee allergy: Allergic reactions to stings of the honey bee (Apis mellifera). These reactions can include dizziness, itching, welts, massive swelling, trouble breathing, low blood pressure, shock, and even death.



The lethal dose of honeybee venom is about 19 stings per kg of body weight (that is 1,300 stings for a 150 pound person). Animals (especially caged ones) as well as humans are at risk.

Healthy people can often outrun the bees; however, the bees may give chase for as much as a quarter of a mile!



Africanized honey bee stings, like those of common honey bees, can cause local pain, itching, swelling, skin infection. They can also cause allergic reaction with breathing difficulty, heart irregularity, seizures, shock, and death. Serious kidney, muscle, liver, brain, and lung damage can result.

There is no bee antivenom currently available. Prevention and avoidance is key. Eliminate sites of possible colonization (holes, junk piles, etc.). Inspect premises for possible colonization. Self-injectible adrenaline can be carried by persons known to be allergic when in risk areas. Hikers should wear long pants and shirts in risk areas. If attacked run for shelter, covering face to prevent airway stings.

Treatment depends on the severity of symptoms. Stingers should be removed promptly and the area cleansed with soap and water. Ice packs, pain medications, and antiitch medications can be helpful for local reactions. More serious symptoms and multiple sting victims are often hospitalized for observation and treatment. They can require intravenous fluids, oxygen, cortisone medicine, epinephrine as well as medications to open the breathing passages. In very severe reactions, the venom is removed from the blood by plasmapheresis or hemodialysis.

Of note, both Africanized honey bees and European honey bees die after stinging.

Content Courtesy : www.medterms.com