insect sting allergy

Many people are allergic to stinging or biting insects, including bees, wasps and ants.

Bees and wasps typically do not sting people unless they are bothered or frightened. To help prevent stings, when you're outdoors, forego brightly colored clothes and floral patterns as well as scented cosmetics, perfumes and colognes. Make sure your children wear shoes when walking and playing outside. And keep food and garbage covered so as not to attract the pests.

Small, local reactions to insect bites or stings are symptoms limited to the immediate area surrounding the bite or sting. They consist of short-lived, painful, itchy hives.

If the stinger is visible, remove it by "flicking" it out with a credit card or driver's license, not by squeezing. Treat local reactions with ice or cool compresses, calamine lotion, topical corticosteroid creams, oral antihistamines and Tylenol^®. A mixture of one part meat tenderizer to four parts water can also relieve discomfort.

More significant reactions can involve hives over more extensive parts of the body, gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting or diarrhea), cough, swollen lips, shortness of breath or breathing difficulties.

When systemic (or body-wide rather than site-only) reactions progress to the point of wheezing, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, anaphylaxis ('anna-fa-lax-is') is occurring.

If your child ever has wheezing or difficulty breathing after an insect bite or sting(insect sting allergy), seek immediate medical attention. Call 911 or take your child to a hospital or to his or her pediatrician immediately. The doctors will assess your child's breathing and determine if your child needs a breathing treatment, or possibly even a shot of epinephrine (adrenaline) to help stop the allergic reaction.

If your child is diagnosed as having an insect sting allergy to bee stings, your doctor will need to prescribe several 'epi-pens' for you to have (one for home, one for school and one to carry with you) in case your child gets stung. Your child's pediatrician might also recommend evaluation by an allergist.

While some insect bites and stings are inevitable during childhood, it nevertheless is helpful to be aware of basic measures you can use to prevent as many as possible, and to treat those that do occur.