Comparison of Skin Tests and RAST for the Diagnosis of Bee Sting Allergy

Skin tests and estimation of specific IgE-antibodies by the RAST are evaluated as diagnostic procedures in bee sting hypersensitivity with the following results: 1  Tests with venom antigens are highly superior to tests with wholebody extracts. 2  With bee venom results of skin tests and RAST correspond in 82%, with bee wholebody extracts in 68%. 3  Both with skin tests and the RAST with bee venom a good discrimination between patients with bee sting hypersensitivity and non-allergic controls is observed. Skin tests with bee venom are somewhat more sensitive than bee venom-RAST. 3  With the careful skin test procedure chosen, no adverse reactions were observed.