Understanding Oral Allergy Syndrome: What the Food Industry Needs to Know
Do your patrons tell you they have allergies to certain foods? Learn more about the impact Oral Allergy (or Food Pollen) Syndrome can have on the catering industry.
Invited to a friend’s BBQ or going on holiday where al fresco dining is the norm? Scared of getting stung?…. You are not alone.
Wasps and bees are part of our ecosystem and are usually more widespread from spring to autumn. There are many types of wasps, with wasp stings far more common than bee stings. The Bumble Bee does not sting as much as the Honeybee. When a bee or wasp stings it injects its venom into our skin. A Honeybee has a barbed stinger making it the only bee to leave her stinger (with venom sac attached) into our skin. If the stinger plus sac are removed quickly this can reduce the effects of the sting. Careful not to use tweezers or the thumb and forefinger to remove the stinger as this could push venom from the sac down into the sting site. Wasps and hornets have a pin-like stinger without barbs and can sting over and over again.
The majority of us are not allergic to wasp and bee stings. However, just like food allergies, some people can develop life threatening allergic reactions to the sting, affecting breathing and circulation. This is called ‘anaphylaxis’. It is important to be able to identify the symptoms and be able to react when this happens. It may be that the first time you are stung you do not react, other than the usual localised irritation to the skin, but there is a small risk that subsequent stings might lead to a serious allergic reaction.
Wasp and Bee Sting Reactions
The most common response to a wasp or bee sting is pain, discomfort and redness around the sting site, with some swelling that may develop over a few hours. The swelling often goes down without treatment after a few days at the worst. A swelling that grows larger than 10cm, or spreads up or down your arm or leg may require prescription medication to help the swelling go down. A sting on the face or neck however can cause your tongue, throat or airways to swell which can be far more serious. A blocked airway may result in serious breathing difficulties and emergency intervention.
In cases where the reaction worsens rapidly from the sting site or is followed by difficulty breathing or choking, fainting or collapse this is known as a “systemic” allergic reaction which (anaphylaxis) and can be life threatening.
Approximately 200 deaths due to insect venom allergy occur in Europe every year, and it is likely that additional deaths are not recognized and therefore not reported. Some maybe confused with heart attacks and strokes.
Diagnosing Venom Allergies
A proper diagnosis includes gathering a full clinical history, skin testing and blood allergy testing for bee- and wasp venom specific IgE antibodies. As venom contains several allergens with cross-reactive carbohydrate (CCD) epitopes (e.g., Api m 1, Ves v 2), traditional venom extract-based test results are often misleading due to false positives or overly exaggerated positives in up to 50% of cases. To completely avoid CCD interference in these tests, blocking of CCD specific antibodies and the use of molecular allergens is essential.
Molecular allergens
Numerous molecular allergens are available for routine testing. Among these, the species-specific molecular allergens from bee Api m 1 and Api m 10, and wasp venom Ves v 1 and Ves v 5 are the most appropriate. Testing for these specific molecular allergens identifies whether you are sensitized only to bee, wasp, or both venoms. This is essential for the selection of the correct venom for allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT), which is the only available treatment that is highly effective, approved by NICE and available in NHS allergy clinics within the UK.
Our ALEX2® Allergy Xplorer test contains:
With more than half of adults who have experienced a widespread systemic response to a sting being at greater risk of a similar or worse reaction to another sting which may be life threatening it could be worth testing with ALEX2 to get a risk assessment. In children, the chance of serious reaction to another sting is less but still present.
To learn more about venom allergies and molecular testing;
www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/bee-and-wasp-sting-allergies/
www.allergyuk.org/resources/wasp-and-bee-sting-allergy/
www.drhelenallergy.co.uk/insect-sting-allergies-dr-helen-allergy/
Do your patrons tell you they have allergies to certain foods? Learn more about the impact Oral Allergy (or Food Pollen) Syndrome can have on the catering industry.
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Forensic Genomics Innovation Hub
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Southampton Science Park
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United Kingdom
Email: lab@fgih.co.uk
Phone: (+44) 02380118980
