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LIFE-THREATENING ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO STINGS BIG PROBLEM IN AUSTRALIA'S SOUTHEAST
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Life-threatening allergic reactions to insect stings are a significant problem
in southeastern Australia, according to a speaker at a conference of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
Not only are there introduced bees and wasps, but also the native Myrmecia ants (predominantly the aggressive jack jumper ant Myrmecia pilosula) are abundant, and a common cause of stings in bushland and outer suburban areas, said emergency physician Simon Brown.
Jack jumpers grip the skin with their powerful jaws and inject painful venom with an abdominal stinger.
Dr Brown and his colleagues found that a staggering 4.5% of the population of the state of Tasmania is allergic to insect stings.
The jack jumper seems to be largely responsible for this finding; 2.7% of the population is allergic to jack jumper stings, compared to 1.4% to bee stings, 0.6% to wasps, and 0.3% to inchman ("bulldog") ants, he said.
Older age increases the risk of sting allergy, with 8.8 % of those aged over 65 being allergic to stings (5.0% to jack jumpers).
Older age also significantly increases the risk of reactions being life-threatening.
Of 905 cases of anaphylaxis presenting to the Emergency Department of the Royal Hobart Hospital over an eight-year period, the jack jumper ant was the commonest single identified cause of allergic reactions.
Insect stings were responsible for 38% of allergic reactions.
In 194 reactions where the insect was identified, the jack jumper ant, honeybee, yellow jacket wasp, and bulldog ant caused 54%, 29%, 6%, and 4% of sting reactions respectively.
There have been at least four deaths from ant sting reactions, probably all jack jumper ants, in the Hobart region during the last 13 years, Dr Brown said.
"Although reliable data are limited, similar problems from jack jumper stings have been reported from the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, much of rural Victoria, and parts of New South Wales.
"It has been estimated that at least 14,000 Australians have a known severe jack jumper sting allergy and would benefit from an effective immunotherapy."
A clinical trial of jack jumper venom desensitisation is underway in Hobart and will be completed soon.
Antihistamines and steroids will not relieve life-threatening reactions, Dr Brown said.
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