Patients with systemic reactions (SR) to Hymenoptera stings are successfully treated by venom immunotherapy (VIT), but there is not yet a general agreement on the criteria for stopping VIT. We discuss the importance of the venom-specific IgE levels among these criteria. In particular, the results from a recent study evaluating the IgE changes during a 5-year VIT, in patients stung and protected...

BACKGROUND Bee and wasp stings are among the most common triggers of anaphylaxis in adults representing around 20% of fatal anaphylaxis from any cause. Data of pre-hospital treatment of bee and wasp induced anaphylactic reactions are sparse. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of bee and wasp induced anaphylactic reactions, the severity of the reactions and to correlate the pre-hospital ...

BACKGROUND The parasitoid Jewel Wasp hunts cockroaches to serve as a live food supply for its offspring. The wasp stings the cockroach in the head and delivers a cocktail of neurotoxins directly inside the prey's cerebral ganglia. Although not paralyzed, the stung cockroach becomes a living yet docile 'zombie', incapable of self-initiating spontaneous or evoked walking. We show here that such n...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to analyze the frequency of clinical features and the severity of systemic reactions to wasp stings, and to establish their relationship with mean age, sex, and atopy. METHODS We studied 115 patients who suffered an anaphylactic reaction to wasp sting and showed specific IgE to venoms from Vespula and/or Polistes. In all patients, age, sex and personal his...

Animal toxin envenomations have medical as well as ecological significance. Toxin-producing animals are categorized under either venomous group or poisonous group. Venomous animals are capable of producing and delivering the toxin during a biting or stinging act whereas poisonous animals are those whose tissues, either in whole or in part, are toxic. [1] About 75% of the world’s animal species ...