The Value of Immunotherapy with Venom in Children with Allergy to Insect Stings

ALLERGIC reactions to insect stings range in severity from trivial local inflammation to systemic anaphylaxis with shock. Although fewer than 50 deaths from insect stings are recorded in the United States each year, 1 the number of persons susceptible to systemic allergic reactions to insect venom in this country is estimated to be in the tens of millions. 2 Hypersensitivity to insect venom is mediated by IgE antibodies to venom proteins, and although only 3 percent of the population has a history of a systemic reaction, such antibodies have been detected within the three years after a sting in 20 percent of . . .