Sensitivity to European wasps in a group of allergic patients in Marseille: preliminary results.

The wasp Polistes dominulus (PD), the yellow jacket Vespula germanica (VG) and the hornet Vespa crabro (VC) are allergenically important social wasps found in Europe. Serum samples obtained from allergic subjects in Marseille were studied in order to determine the positivity by RAST to these venoms. All the sera studied had IgE antibodies to at least one of the wasp venoms tested and 50% had IgE antibodies that reacted with more than one venom. The presence in some sera of IgE antibodies to the venoms of all three wasps and RAST inhibition studies suggested that the three venoms were relevant in the area studied and that most sera were positive to the three venoms due to allergenic cross-reactivity. However, inhibition studies revealed that 2 patients may have had antibodies that did not cross-react and that were specific for the venom of only one species.