Beware the Stinging Bee on the Fourth Weekend - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today

Beware the Stinging Bee on the Fourth Weekend - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today:

"Beware the Stinging Bee on the Fourth Weekend


By Michael Smith, MedPage Today Staff Writer
July 01, 2005


WASHINGTON, July 1-A bee only weighs a fraction of an ounce, but it can spoil your whole holiday weekend.

While it would take about 300 insects to weigh an ounce, the cocktail of proteins that a bee's stinger can inject is often enough to cause symptoms ranging from hives to fatal shock in people allergic to the venom."