Bee or Wasp Sting

Wounds. 2017 Sep;29(9):E70-E72.

Abstract

While jogging in a local park in Hong Kong, a 55-year-old, previously healthy man was stung on the ventral aspect of his right wrist. The tiny stinger was gently removed with nail cutters and examined under a microscope at 80x magni cation; plucking the stinger is ill- advised as this may inject more venom into the wounded site. Two days after stinging, the microscopic appearance of the stinger con rmed the diagnosis to be from a bee instead of a wasp or other insect. A simple method of con rming the nature of insect stings and an overview of Hymenoptera stings and their management are provided herein.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bee Venoms / isolation & purification
  • Bees*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Humans
  • Insect Bites and Stings / diagnosis*
  • Insect Bites and Stings / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Species Specificity
  • Wasps
  • Wrist

Substances

  • Bee Venoms