Hymenoptera venom allergy in children <br><b>[Abstract in English]</b>

Abstract

AIMS: Allergy to hymenoptera venom may restrict a child's life significantly. It is intended, with the exposure of two clinical cases and a brief review on the topic, emphasizing the importance of referral of these children to specialized care for early desensitization. CASES DESCRIPTION: Two children, at three and six years, had anaphylactic reaction to wasp and bee stings, respectively. In both cases, after the determination of specific IgE and allergologic confirmation, desensitization with hymenoptera venom in ultra-rush regimen was done, without relevant side effect apart from swelling at the injection site. After twelve months of injections every four weeks, the children are now receiving maintenance injections every six weeks. In the first case, the child was stung by wasp at ten months of immunotherapy, triggering only small local reaction. CONCLUSIONS: In both cases, the subcutaneous venom immunotherapy with ultra-rush regimen was safe and effective, providing the comfort of a smaller number of injections and hospital visits during the induction phase. Maintenance therapy has demonstrated a protective effect on re-exposure to the poison in one child.