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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Augusta, Ga. – Stinging insects are as much a part of summer as pool parties and picnics. But don’t let these uninvited guests spoil your family’s fun.
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, stings from insects – including honey bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets and fire ants – send more than half a million people to hospitals and cause at least 50 deaths each year. Since they won’t just buzz off, allergists at the MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center recommend these steps to avoid insect stings:
1. Be cautious when eating outdoors and consider keeping food covered.
2. If you can, avoid drinking beverages outside. Stinging insects are attracted to beverages and may crawl inside drink cans or other containers.
3. Cover garbage cans with tight lids.
4. Avoid wearing sweet-smelling perfumes, hair sprays, colognes and deodorants.
5. Avoid wearing bright-colored clothing outdoors, such as floral patterns.
6. Don’t walk barefoot in the grass.
7. Watch for signs of stinging insects when gardening, mowing the yard, or doing outside house maintenance. Hornets, for example, can build huge, nests in shrubs.
8. Be cautious around fire ant mounds, and don’t disturb them.
Even with precaution, stings may still happen, so it’s also important to be aware of the signs of an allergic reaction, since reactions can be deadly. A normal reaction to an insect sting will include pain, swelling and redness at the sting site. However, an allergic reaction requires immediate medical attention. Symptoms include:
§ Hives, itching and swelling in areas other than the sting site.
§ Tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing.
§ Swelling of the tongue, throat, nose and lips.
§ Dizziness and fainting, or loss of consciousness, which can lead to shock and heart failure.
If you or your children have ever had an allergic reaction to an insect sting, you are at high risk for a more severe reaction if stung again. An allergist can help you determine what kind of insect you are allergic to and recommend ways to stay safe if you are stung again.
If a severe allergic reaction develops at the time of a sting, an epinephrine injection is the most immediate way to treat it. An allergist can prescribe an epinephrine auto-injector and teach you and your family members how to use it. Or, you may be a candidate for venom immunotherapy. These are allergy shots that treat insect sting allergy and may prevent future allergic reactions. These shots are 97 percent effective in preventing potentially life-threatening reactions to insect stings.
If your child is allergic to insect stings, be sure to alert teachers, coaches and camp counselors and teach them how to use epinephrine. Also talk to your child about how to avoid situations where stinging insects may be encountered.
MCG Health, Inc. (d/b/a MCGHealth) is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCGHealth Medical Center, MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center, MCGHealth Cancer Center, Georgia Radiation Therapy Center, and related outpatient facilities and services throughout the state. For more information, please visit mcghealth.org.
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