Insect venoms

Clinical significance

Localised pain, swelling, itching and redness are normal reactions to an insect bite. However, insect bites can also cause allergic reactions that can manifest minutes or even hours after the bite.

Symptoms range from skin reactions such as hives, swelling, itching and redness (not necessarily limited to the site of the bite) to severe systemic reactions, presenting as swelling of the throat and tongue, dyspnoea, nausea, intestinal and stomach complaints, diarrhoea, neurological complaints including confusion, vertigo, disturbed gait, rapid heartbeat and low blood pressure. In the worst case, the reaction may lead to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. It is estimated that 1% to 7% of the population suffer from insect venom allergy.

Diagnostics

For clarification of insect venom allergies, differential diagnostics are recommended to identify the exact allergy-inducing species. EUROIMMUN offers different insect venoms profiles (EUROLINE) that contribute to the identification of sensitisations to the most common insect venoms. In addition to natural insect venom extracts, the profiles also include recombinant species-specific allergen components (defined partial allergen diagnostics (DPA-Dx)) for simultaneous in vitro determination of human IgE antibodies.

In addition, the total IgE concentration in serum or plasma can be determined using the Total IgE ELISA.

_{EUROAssay products are only available in Germany.}