Hymenoptera venom anaphylaxis in adult Korean: a multicenter retrospective case study

Results: A total of 291 patients were included. The common cause of bee species was vespid (24.6%) in bee venom anaphylaxis, fol- lowed by honeybee and vespid (8.8%), apitherapy (7.7%), and honeybee (2.0%), although the causative bee species were com- monly unknown (56.9%). The severity of anaphylaxis was mostly mild-moderate (72.9%), and common clinical manifestations in- cluded cutaneous (80.6%), cardiovascular (39.2%), respiratory (38.1%), and gastrointestinal (13.1%) symptoms. Portable epinephrine auto-injectors were prescribed to 12.1% of the patients. Subject positive to both vespid and honeybee showed more severe symp- toms and higher epinephrine use (P < 0.05). The severity was significantly associated with older age, but not with gender, underlying allergic disease, or family history. Apitherapy-induced anaphylaxis showed a higher rate of hospitalization and epinephrine use than bee sting anaphylaxis (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Vespid is the most common cause of bee venom anaphylaxis in Korea. It is suggested that positivity to honeybee and vespid may be associated with more severe symptoms. (Allergy Asthma Respir Dis 2014;2:344-351)