PETAH TIQVA, Israel, May 15 (UPI) -- Only a fraction of Israeli children stung by insects who exhibit moderate to severe symptoms of an allergic reaction get hospital treatment, a study says.
Insect sting is one of the most common causes of anaphylaxis -- a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction -- worldwide and is frequently unrecognized by patients and their physicians, according to Dr. Yael Graif of the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tiqva, Israel.
Graif analyzed the results of questionnaires completed by more than 10,000 Israeli children ages 13 and 14 to see how often they had been stung by insects, how severe a reaction they had to the sting, and if they were treated at a hospital.
Honey-bee and yellow-jacket stings were the most common; 56.3 percent of the children had been stung at least once. Of the children stung, 11.5 percent had a large, local reaction that lasted several days, while 6.5 percent had a mild systemic reaction with hives or angioedema, and 2.5 percent reported a moderate-to-severe systemic reaction with difficulty breathing, asthma attack, abdominal pain or loss of consciousness.
The findings are published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
