- He suffered multi-organ failure six days after being stung by a giant honey bee
- Wasp or bee stings can kill up to 10 Britons and 60 Americans every year
It’s a warning that all bee-fearing people will fear: if you get stung, it could be truly fatal.
A 50-year-old man in Somalia narrowly escaped death after being stabbed, doctors have revealed.
Nearly a week after being stung by a giant honey bee, he suffered multi-organ failure.
Medics shared his case as a warning in an academic journal, saying such incidents can also cause strokes or even heart attacks.
Wasp or bee stings kill up to ten Britons and sixty Americans every year, but the risks are little known.
A 50-year-old man in Somalia narrowly escaped death after being stabbed, doctors have revealed. Nearly a week after being stung by a giant honey bee, he suffered multi-organ failure. Medics shared his case as a warning in an academic journal, saying such stings can also cause strokes or even heart attacks.
Deaths usually occur due to an allergic reaction to the venom, resulting in anaphylaxis – a complication that can be fatal within minutes.
The estimated lethal dose to humans from stings alone is approximately 500 to 1,500 stings. But anaphylactic reactions are not dose dependent.
“Venom released by bee stings can range from 50 to 140 µg per sting, which is a dose significant enough to cause systemic damage,” said the team from Mogadishu Somali Turkey Training and Research Hospital.
The unidentified man, from a rural area, waited six days before going to hospital. He complained of difficulty breathing and was unable to urinate properly.
Doctors noticed that he had ‘several’ red spots on his body.
Doctors also found that his heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar levels were higher than normal and his body temperature was slightly below average.
Wasp or bee stings kill up to ten Britons and sixty Americans every year, but the risks are little known. Deaths usually occur due to an allergic reaction to the venom, resulting in anaphylaxis – a complication that can be fatal within minutes
Blood tests showed kidney and liver damage and pancreatitis.
An ECG, a test that records the electrical activity of the heart, also showed he had a faster-than-normal heart rhythm.
Medics believed he had suffered an allergic reaction and put him on a “comprehensive” regimen of steroids, antihistamines and intravenous fluids for hydration.
He also underwent five rounds of hemodialysis, a machine that filters waste, salts and fluid from the blood.
The patient was discharged after seven days. Follow-up appointments showed that things ‘continued to go well’.
Writing in the International Journal of Medical Case Reportssaid doctors: ‘Bee stings are common in Africa, yet there is a paucity of medical literature specifically focusing on bee stings and their association with multi-organ failure.’