Comparison of the atopic background between allergic and non-allergic beekeepers.
A study was carried out on beekeepers and their families. 34 subjects with a history of bee sting allergy and also a positive radioallergosorbent test (RAST) to honey bee venom were compared with 47 subjects with neither. 16 subjects in the bee allergy group (47%) had a history of atopic diseases as compared to 6 (13%) in the control group (p less than 0.01). 15 in the bee allergy group (44%) had at least one positive RAST to three common inhalant allergens as compared to 5 (11%) in the control group (p less than 0.01). These results suggest that, although bee sting allergy frequently affects non-atopic subjects, sensitization among beekeepers and their families occurs more readily in atopics. It is notable that a large proportion of patients injected with foreign proteins (the control group) either never develop venom-specific IgE antibodies or have suppressed their production.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications; D001516:Bees / Q000276:immunology*; D004485:Eczema / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000150:complications*; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011852:Radioallergosorbent Test; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000150:complications
D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007073:Immunoglobulin E