Paull B R
Postgrad Med. 1984 Jul;76(1):155-60. doi: 10.1080/00325481.1984.11698672.
As the imported fire ant relentlessly expands its territory, more and more people are at risk of the insects' discomforting and sometimes dangerous stings. Thus, all primary care physicians in fire ant-infested areas should be familiar with diagnosis and treatment of fire ant stings and of allergic reactions to the stings. Fire ant venom is unique when compared with other Hymenoptera venoms, as it consists mainly of nonallergenic alkaloids that are of small molecular weight with only a small percentage of allergenic proteins. Fire ant wholebody extract, unlike other Hymenoptera wholebody extracts, retains its allergenic activity and is an adequate material for use in diagnostic testing and immunotherapy. Diagnosis of fire ant allergy can be readily made by the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) or by skin testing using fire ant wholebody extract. Immunotherapy with fire ant whole-body extract in allergic individuals can prevent serious recurrent systemic reactions.
随着入侵红火蚁不断扩张其领地，越来越多的人面临被这种昆虫叮咬的风险，这种叮咬会让人不适，有时甚至危险。因此，红火蚁肆虐地区的所有初级保健医生都应熟悉红火蚁叮咬及叮咬所致过敏反应的诊断和治疗。与其他膜翅目昆虫毒液相比，红火蚁毒液具有独特性，因为它主要由小分子非致敏性生物碱组成，只有一小部分是致敏性蛋白质。与其他膜翅目昆虫的全身提取物不同，红火蚁全身提取物保留了其致敏活性，是用于诊断测试和免疫治疗的合适材料。通过放射变应原吸附试验（RAST）或使用红火蚁全身提取物进行皮肤试验，可轻松诊断红火蚁过敏。对过敏个体使用红火蚁全身提取物进行免疫治疗可预防严重的复发性全身反应。
