Late Onset of Acute Urticaria after Bee Stings

Here we report the cases of five patients with a late onset of acute urticaria after a bee sting. The ages of the five Japanese patients ranged from 33 to 86 years (median: 61). All patients had no history of an allergic reaction to bee stings. The onset of urticaria was 6-14 days (median: 10) after a bee sting. Although four of the patients did not describe experiencing a bee sting at their presentation, the subsequent examination detected anti-bee-specific IgE antibodies. So, we think a history of a bee sting should thus be part of the medical interview sheet for patients with acute urticaria, and an examination of IgE for bees may help prevent a severe bee-related anaphylactic reaction in the future.