Insect stings typically result in pain, swelling and redness confined to the sting site. More severe reactions include symptoms appearing over a wider area (for example, swelling of your whole arm if you were stung on your wrist) or affecting other parts of the body from where the sting occurred.
Allergic reactions to stings can occur even after many normal reactions to stings and at any age. It has been estimated that potentially life-threatening allergic reactions to insect venom occur in 0.4 percent to 0.8 percent of children and 3 percent of adults. Thousands of people are stung by insects each year, and as many as 90–100 people in the United States die as a result of allergic reactions.
The majority of insect stings in the United States come from wasps, yellow jackets, hornets and bees. The red or black imported fire ant now infests more than 260 million acres in the southern United States, where it has become a significant health hazard and may be the number one agent of insect stings. While there are native fire ant species, the species that causes the most problems for us were accidentally imported to the United Stated from South America.
Insect Sting Allergy Symptoms
Content was based on American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
