Extremely Rare.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19622, 1 February 1936, Page 3

Extremely Rare.

FATAL BEE STINGS. THE SOUTHLAND CASE. ABNORMAL SUSCEPTIBILITY. Cases of fatal bee stings such as that which occurred at Invercargill last Sunday are said to be extremely rare, resulting only in persons who have abnormal susceptibility to foreign protein contained in the fluid injected with a bee sting. Dr. Erie D’Ath, pathologist to the Otago Medical School, told a reporter that some persons are very sensitive to such foreign matters, an example of this uncommon sensitivity being seen in much lesser degree among those persons avlio become ili after eating such food substances as oysters, crayfish and strawberries, all of which contained certain different proteins.

Reference was made to an authority on the subject, who stated that death' as the result of a single bee sting was extremely uncommon. The case was cited of a man in Germany dying from a single bee sting on the leg. Most of the fatal eases were the outcome of stings in the mouth or about the throat from bees which flew into the mouth when a person was laughing or yawning. Dr. D’Atli added that a sting on the neck sometimes caused extensive swelling, so as to choke the sufferer. No particular species of bees had been proved to possess a death sting. Bees and wasps were classified together.