Fire Ant Stings Can Cause Severe Allergic Reactions

Fire Ant Stings Can Cause Severe Allergic Reactions.
For some people, a bite from the ubiquitous light ant can provoke potentially severe reactions, but a renewed study finds that only one-third of people with such allergies get shots that can ease the danger. "Patients are apprehensive of the injections, and often feel that the time investment will never pay off in the long run," said one expert, Dr Robert Glatter, an exigency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Allergy shots to preserve against fire ant stings are typically given monthly to cater the best protection.

This treatment has been shown to prevent allergy progression and to reduce the risk of anaphylaxis, a severe allergic feedback that can be deadly. However, "the time commitment is significant and typically involves monthly injections over a 3- to 5-year period," said Glatter, who was not complex in the new study. So, without considering the potential benefit, the new study found that only 35 percent of patients with fire ant allergies continued to get allergy shots after one year. Inconvenience and second thoughts were among the reasons why they stopped getting the treatment.

The findings were published in the March child of the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. "Immunotherapy is proven to be tried and true and efficient at treating allergic diseases," study lead author Dr Shayne Stokes, leader of allergy and immunology at Luke AFB in Arizona, said in a front-page news release from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "It can also result in constitution care savings of 33 to 41 percent".