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A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. The reaction of a person to a bee sting may vary according to the bee species. While bee stinger venom is slightly acidic and causes only mild ...
Insect sting allergy is the term commonly given to the allergic response of an animal in response to the bite or sting of an insect. [1] Typically, insects which generate allergic responses are either stinging insects ( wasps , bees , hornets and ants [ 2 ] ) or biting insects ( mosquitoes , ticks ).
Unlike most other stings, honey bee workers' stings are strongly barbed and lodge in the flesh of mammals upon use, tearing free from the honey bee's body, killing the bee within minutes. [2] The sting has its own ganglion, and it continues to saw into the target's flesh and release venom for several minutes. This trait is of obvious ...
Bee venom is a complex mixture of proteins and smaller molecules. The main component is melittin , which amounts to 52% of venom peptides [ 2 ] One of the main allergens is phospholipase A 2 , which amounts to 12% and is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of phospholipids , causing degradation of cell membranes . [ 3 ]
Less commonly (around 10% of Hymenoptera sting reactions), a large local reaction occurs when the area of swelling is greater than 10 centimetres (4 in). Rarely (1-3% of Hymenoptera sting reactions), systemic reactions can affect multiple organs and pose a medical emergency, as in the case of anaphylactic shock. [2] [3]
A 2004 study from Johns Hopkins University found that, unless they’d received allergy treatments for bee stings, a significant percentage of those who’d had severe reactions to bee stings as ...
Melittin is the main compound in bee venom, accounting for the potential lethality of a bee sting, which causes an anaphylactic reaction in some people. [5] At the sites of multiple stings, localized pain, swelling, and skin redness occur, and if bees are swallowed, life-threatening swelling of the throat and respiratory passages may develop. [5]
The Koschevnikov gland is a gland of the honeybee [1] located near the sting shaft.The gland produces an alarm pheromone that is released when a bee stings. The pheromone contains more than 40 different compounds, including pentylacetate, butyl acetate, 1-hexanol, n-butanol, 1-octanol, hexylacetate, octylacetate, and 2-nonanol.