Introduction: Bee sting reactions can be severe and potentially life-threatening. The prevalence of bee sting reactions varies between geographic locations. Pa-Sang district, Lamphun province is one of the largest apicultural areas in Thailand. The data on bee sting reactions in Thailand are limited.
Objectives: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients who stung by bees at Pa-Sang hospital. Moreover, risk factors associated with bee sting-induced anaphylaxis was analyzed.
Methods: We performed a retrospective review, based on ICD-10 electronic medical records of patients who attended the Emergency Departments at Pa-Sang hospital due to bee sting reactions from January 2015 to December 2019.
Results: A total of 591 episodes of bee sting in 573 patients were analyzed. Fifty-six percent of patients were male. Most of them (86%) were stung outside their home area. Head (50%) was the most common part of the body that was stung. Forty-five percent of them presented with systemic reactions and 94 patients (15.9%) were diagnosed with anaphylaxis. Epinephrine injection was administered in 72% of them. Fatal anaphylactic reaction was recorded in a 46 year-old patients with multiple organ failure due to delayed epinephrine injection. Age less than 15 years old, age more than 45 years old, more than 10 bee stings, and time lapse between stung and reactions less than 60 minutes were the significant factor associated with anaphylactic reactions
Conclusions: Bee sting reactions were the frequent presentation at the hospital located in the high apicultural area. The severe systemic reactions due to bee stings were not uncommon. Immediate epinephrine injection should be encouraged in the case of anaphylaxis.
Key words: bee venom, venom allergy, bee stings, anaphylaxis, Thailand
