title: Allergic reactions to Hymenoptera stings in Turkish school children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reported prevalence of the insect stings and rates of allergic reactions vary among studies. The aim of the present study was to carry out the first epidemiological study on the prevalence of Hymenoptera allergy among school children in Izmir, Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  We planned to reach 6100 children, assuming the frequency of allergic reactions to Hymenoptera stings as 20%. Thirty-seven and eight schools were chosen from rural and urban areas, respectively. Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire which included questions about history of insect stings and the presence of atopic disease. All cases with severe systemic reactions and a representative sample from the remaining population were surveyed by telephone afterwards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 8565 questionnaires were distributed and the response rate was 70.8%. Of the 5602 children, 61.6% were stung at least once in their lifetime. Of these, 24.3% had a LLR, 8.1% had a MSR, 0.8% had a SSR. Overall reliability of the questionnaire was calculated as 40.7% for SSR and 91.6% for other reactions after telephone survey. On logistic regression analysis, male sex and rural residence were associated with a higher risk of being stung (OR: 1.39; CI 1.25-1.56; OR: 4.37; CI 3.36-5.69, respectively). Male subjects and asthmatic children were more likely to experience a SSR (OR: 2.44; CI 1.06-5.65; OR: 3.3; CI 1.52-7.19, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hymenoptera stings are common in our population and large local reactions are the most common type of reactions. Prevalence of severe reactions is low in our population compared to previous studies.
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, İzmir, Turkey. Electronic address: zarikanayyildiz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Arıkan-Ayyıldız
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Isık
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Babus
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ucku
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caglayan-Sozmen
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karaman
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uzuner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006927:Hymenoptera / Q000276:immunology; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D011153:Population; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey
keywords: Allergy; Hymenoptera; Insect stings; School children