Prevalence of allergy to hymenoptera stings in different samples of the general population

Abstract

To get figures of prevalence of systemic reactions (SRs) to hymenoptera sting in adults between the ages of 18 to 65 years, we performed three different surveys using the same questionnaire from 1984 to 1988. The first one was a door-to-door survey in Southeast France, which included 8271 adults and used a questionnaire. The second one, which included 2067 adults, was performed in a health care center and comprised the same questionnaire and venom skin tests in subjects reporting a history of SRs. The third survey was a national poll performed through a home-based national computer network. The percentage of SRs ranged from 0.66% in the second survey including skin tests to 3.3% in the poll survey. The higher prevalence figure in this latter survey may be related to a false-positive history. There was no urban-rural difference in prevalence of SR.