Treatment Overview

Immunotherapy for insect sting allergies is a series of allergy shots given to reduce your sensitivity to allergens that cause an allergic reaction. Small doses of allergens are injected under the skin. Over time, allergy shots can reduce the severity of your reaction to allergens. To treat allergies to insect stings, very small amounts of the venom of the insect or insects are used. The treatment also is sometimes called venom immunotherapy (VIT).

Immunotherapy is available to treat allergies to stings from:

• Honeybees.
• Yellow jackets.
• Hornets.
• Paper wasps.
• Fire ants.

A solution of dilute saline containing a very small amount of the insect venom is injected under the skin. At first, you get one or more shots about once a week. The amount of allergen injected is slightly increased each time, unless you have a reaction to the shot.

After about 4 to 6 months of weekly shots, you are usually getting an optimal amount of allergen in the shot—this is called the maintenance dose. After you reach maintenance level, you get the same dose in shots every 4 weeks for another 4 to 6 months.

After the first year of shots, you will have maintenance shots every 6 to 8 weeks over the next 3 to 5 years.^{footnote 1}

Depending on your situation, your doctor may recommend rush immunotherapy. Several shots are given over a period of days to weeks. This type of treatment can provide faster protection in the short term. But you will still need to have regular shots over the long term.

For more information about what to consider if you are thinking about having immunotherapy, see:

• Allergies: Should I Take Shots for Insect Sting Allergies?