Fatal allergic reaction to bee sting

Tragically, last month a 57 year-old truck driver, Mark Williams, died after an allergic reaction to a bee sting in Western Australia.

"Mark did take his allergy seriously but his death shows how dangerous allergies can be and how quickly something can happen,” his wife Maree said in an article in The West Australian. (See https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29924289/daredevil-knew-risks-of-sting/ - Note this original link no longer valid - Sep 2022)

A donation in Memoriam from his friends and colleagues is now listed on the Donors page of the AIFA website www.allergyimmunology.org.au/our-supporters/donors

Allergies to venoms from stinging insects are one of the most common causes of severe allergic reactions in Australia.

Severe symptoms of an allergic reaction to insects include difficult/noisy breathing, swelling of tongue or throat, difficulty talking and/or hoarse voice, wheeze or persistent cough, persistent dizziness or collapse, abdominal pain, vomiting. If any one of these symptoms present, the person should be given an adrenaline autoinjector (such as EpiPen) and taken to hospital. ASCIA has recently updated their nformation on allergic reactions to insect bites and stings: www.allergy.org.au/patients/insect-allergy-bites-and-stings 

Content updated 11 November 2015