Background and OBJECTIVE: There has been a few case reports of anaphylaxis due to honeybee in Korea. In order to observe the clinical feature of bee sting anaphylaxis. Moderials and methods: Six patients living in Kyunggi province area were referred under history of anaphylaxis after the bee sting. Atopy was defined by skin prick test result to common inhalant allergen. Serum specific IgE antibody to each bee antigen was detected by radioimmunoassay to identify the causative bee. RESULTS: All six cases were female. Three had atopy and four had combined allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis, asthma, and urticaria. The etiologic bees consisted of yellow jacket (6 cases), paper wasp (4 cases), yellow hornet (3 cases), white faced hornet (1 case) and honey bee (1 case). Four cases had experienced anaphylaxis after ant bite and they showed positive result on specific IgE to imported fire ant. Specific immunotherapy against causative bee venom was begun using bee venom extracts from Bayer (USA) based upon results of specific IgE anti-body to bee venom. CONCLUSION: The yellow jacket is the most common cause of bee venom anaphylaxis in this area. Further studies will be needed to evaluate possible cross-reactivity between bee and ant venom.
Anaphylaxis* ; Ant Venoms ; Ants ; Asthma ; Bee Venoms* ; Bees* ; Bites and Stings ; Female ; Fires ; Gyeonggi-do ; Honey ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunotherapy ; Korea ; Radioimmunoassay ; Rhinitis ; Skin ; Urticaria ; Wasps

Hypersensitivity to the stings of the Hymenoptera has been described since antiquity. The hypersensitive reactions to insect stings vary from minor skin reactions to severe and sometimes fatal anaphylaxis. Concerns about sting hypersensitivity have been increasing because of many incidents of allergic reactions of patients to the fire ant in the southern area of the United States as well as the harvester ant in some areas. We experienced one unique case with severe allergic reactions by ant of the Ectomomyrmex spp. of the subfamily Ponerinae, which is not a harvester ant. For three years the patient had been suffering from generalized allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis after the ant stings four-five attacks in a year. We determined that her reactions were due to specific IgE mediated type I hypersensitivity by the detection of a high level of specific IgE to the ant venom in her serum. The high level of specific IgG4 to the ant venom was also noted in her serum, however, the role of ant venom IgG4 was not clearly determined.
Adult ; Anaphylaxis/*etiology ; Ant Venoms/*immunology ; Case Report ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Human ; Immunoglobulin E/*analysis ; Immunoglobulin G/*classification ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't