Getting to know

In people who have experienced a generalized reaction (anaphylaxis) and have a medically confirmed allergy to insect venom, desensitization treatment (immunotherapy) might be recommended, especially for bee and wasp hypersensitivity. 
Immunotherapy is a long term treatment which seeks to change the reactivity of the immune system and to prevent the occurrence of an allergic reaction to the venom in case of a subsequent sting. The treatment involves administration of progressively increasing doses of the allergenic venom, up to a maintenance dose which is administered regularly at intervals of 4-8 weeks for a few years. People treated with immunotherapy develop a tolerance to the insect venom. Consequently if they are stung again they may not develop symptoms at all, or manifest only mild symptoms.

Tolerance can be noticed after the first few weeks or months of treatment (the interval varies from person to person) but the treatment needs to be continued for 3-5 years to be fully effective (in a limited number of patients, the treatment has to be continued for their whole life). In most patients, tolerance is maintained after the treatment is stopped if the full course of treatment was administered. 

Even though immunotherapy is a very effective treatment for insect venom allergy also it involves some risk and therefore is not suitable for everyone. Age, state of health (some concomitant diseases such as severe asthma or heart conditions are contra-indications for immunotherapy), severity of the previous reaction, the risk for future stings as well as the level of stress induced by the disease are all factors that the doctor should take into account when making the decision.