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Allergic reactions to vespids: comparison of sensitivities of two species in a Mediterranean area
Author(s) -
BLANCA M.,
MIRANDA A.,
FERNANDEZ J.,
TERRADOS S.,
VELA J. M.,
VEGA J. M.,
GONZALEZ J. J.,
JUAREZ C.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
clinical and experimental allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2222
pISSN - 0954-7894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1988.tb02839.x
Subject(s) - polistes , venom , biology , vespidae , sting , radioallergosorbent test , zoology , immunoglobulin e , antibody , immunology , toxicology , hymenoptera , ecology , engineering , aerospace engineering
Summary We have studied a group of twenty‐seven patients who suffer allergic reactions to vespids stings. Specific IgE antibodies to venom extracts from Polistes gallicus and Vespula germanica were measured by RAST, and the crossreactivity between the two venoms was compared using the RAST inhibition technique. We concluded that, in southern Spain, sensitization to P. gallicus was more prevalent than that to V. germanica , with 44% of the subjects in this study reacting to P. gallicus compared with 33% to V. germanica. However, there was a considerable degree of crossreactivity between the two species. It is evident that Polistes is an important species in this area; however, both in Spain and other Mediterranean countries, V. germanica venom is used almost exclusively for diagnosis and immunotherapy.