A woman in Spain undergoing bee sting acupuncture died recently after the treatment caused a fatal allergic reaction.
The unnamed 55-year-old woman began her monthly "apitherapy" treatment to relieve stress and muscle contractions two years ago. However, during her latest session, the patient “developed wheezing, dyspnea, and sudden loss of consciousness immediately after a live bee sting,” according to a report in the Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology.
She was administered adrenaline and antihistamines at a local hospital to reverse the bee stings’ toxic effects, but died several weeks later from multiple organ failure.
“Apitherapy," also known as "bee acupuncture," substitutes live bees in place of needles to puncture specific areas of the patient’s body, and has been practiced for years. It’s most popular in the Far East — most notably China and the Korean peninsula — but has spread worldwide.
"We've treated patients with dozens of diseases, from arthritis to cancer, all with positive results," Wang Menglin, a bee acupuncturist, told ABC News-Australia in 2013.
"Although some benefits of apitherapy have been reported, published evidence of its effectiveness and safety is limited," scientists Paula Vazquez-Revuelta and Ricardo Madrigal-Burgaleta, wrote in the report.
They acknowledged the woman had undergone the treatment over a prolonged period and noted "repeated exposure to the allergen was found to carry a greater risk of severe allergic reactions than in the general population."
Dr. Andrew Murphy, an allergist with the Asthma Allergy and Sinus Center in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, agreed and told Live Science in an email that “the last sting was the clinically relevant one that was fatal."
Murphy added that the clinic was ill equipped to handle bee sting emergencies.
"What was even more galling and sad is that this clinic did not even have epinephrine available to treat the patient in case of a reaction," he said, Live Science reported.
The Spanish scientists cautioned against the use of live bees in the practice.
“The risks of undergoing apitherapy may exceed the presumed benefits, leading us to conclude that this practice is both unsafe and unadvisable," they wrote in the report.
Normal acupuncture is now being used to treat pain at VA hospitals, and is being considered as a possible alternative to opioids addiction, which has reached crisis levels in the United States.
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