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Harvesting Venom Toxins from Assassin Bugs and Other Heteropteran Insects
Published on: April 21, 2018
Ultrarush protocol safety and efficacy in Hymenoptera venom immunotherapy
Matteo Biagi1, Celestino Pucci2, Ilaria Puxeddu3
1University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Internal Medicine, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy; Clinical Immunology and Allergy Unit, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Background:
Ultrarush protocol is rarely used in the induction phase of venom immunotherapy because of conflicting evidence regarding its safety.
Objective:
To address the safety and efficacy of rush and ultrarush protocol in a wide cohort of well-characterized patients.
Methods:
We included adult patients candidate for venom immunotherapy from January 2022 to March 2024, and we used 3 to 4 days rush, 6-step ultrarush, or 5-step ultrarush protocol, administering each dose every 30 minutes and observing for 150 minutes after the last dose.
Results:
A total of 64 patients and 75 venom immunotherapies were evaluated (11 patients received double venom immunotherapy): 14 for Apis mellifera, 23 for Vespula, 17 for Polistes dominula, and 21 for Vespa crabro. Severity was grade 3 or 4 in 61 venom immunotherapies; tryptase levels were more than 11.4 µg/L in 7. Rush protocol was followed in 11 subjects, 6-step ultrarush in 20, and 5-step ultrarush in 44. Systemic allergic reactions occurred in 2 patients, both during A mellifera venom immunotherapy (one rush and one 6-step ultrarush), with history of grades 3 to 4 reaction; none required adrenaline. In addition, 17 patients were re-stung, without systemic allergic reactions.
Conclusion:
The study demonstrates that ultrarush protocol for venom immunotherapy is both safe and effective, also in the shortened schedule. Venom, reaction severity, and tryptase levels are not predictors of serious adverse events.
