Hymenoptera sting anaphylactic reactions in the Mediterranean population of Albania.
BACKGROUND
Relatively few studies have examined the relation of different hymenoptera sting reactions.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation of anaphylactic reactions against stings of different hymenoptera subspecies in the Mediterranean population of Albania.


METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted using the clinic files of 111 patients who were diagnosed for hymenoptera sting reactions from 1987 to 1996. Antigens used consisted of purified hymenoptera venom (bee, wasp, and paperwasp). The patients were diagnosed by intracutaneous tests in concentrations of 0.001 microgram/ml, 0.01 microgram/ml, 0.1 microgram/ml, and 1 microgram/ml.


RESULTS
The median age of the patients was 27 years. 57% of stings occurred between 20 to 40 years of age. The majority of anaphylactic reactions were recorded during the months of June to October, 81% of the patients were admitted to the hospital due to Mueller grade II to III reactions. In 26% of all cases, crossreactions (bee-wasp 16%, bee-wasp-paperwasp 7%, wasp-paperwasp 2%, bee-paperwasp 1%) were found. Of all anaphylactic reactions, 64% were attributed to bees, 24% to wasps, 8% to both bees and wasps, and 2% to paperwasps.


CONCLUSIONS
In contrast to industrialized countries such as the United States or Western Europe where urban populations predominate, reactions to bee venom were more prevalent in the present study population.
Dept. of Allergology, Mother Theresa School of Medicine, University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania. allergology@gmx.de
E
E
Mingomataj
D
D
Ohri
V
V
Dhimitri
A
A
Priftanji
E
E
Qirko
L
L
Pani
T C
TC
Fischer
Q T
QT
Dinh
C
C
Peiser
A
A
Fischer
D A
DA
Groneberg
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000415:Albania / Q000453:epidemiology; D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D006927:Hymenoptera; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons