Stinging-Insect Hypersensitivity: A 20-Year Study of Immunologic Treatment

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Abstract
It is evident that the degree of severity of the sting reactions and the degree of protectiveness from immunotherapy are dose-related. Immunologic treatment for three years seems to provide a high degree of protection6 but 5% of the patients did not have complete protection during treatment and an additional 5% of patients had a decrease in protection after treatment was stopped. Until a method is developed for determining whether clinical protection is present and persisting after three years of injection treatment, all patients should probably have some plan of continuing immunological treatment. As indicated in previous publications, one author's (H.L.M.) experience with patients relying on sting avoidance and emergency self-treatment for protection has proven to be disastrous in three cases and fatal in one instance. Some stinging insect reactions are probably not immunologic.6 Increasingly severe local reactions to successive stings may be reason for considering immunologic treatment, depending on the circumstances in each case.

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