Mastocytosis and hymenoptera venom allergy profiled in the U.S.

The prevalence of hymenoptera venom anaphylaxis (HVA) in the United States is 0.167 percent, and mastocytosis is more common among those with HVA, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Charles F. Schuler, IV, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues used insurance claims data from approximately 27 million U.S. patients in 2018 to examine the prevalence of HVA and mastocytosis in the United States and evaluated the impact of mastocytosis on venom immunotherapy (VIT) in a cohort of U.S. patients with HVA.

The researchers found that the prevalence of HVA was 167 per 100,000 (0.167 percent), and the prevalence of mastocytosis was 10 per 100,000 overall and 97 per 100,000 with HVA (0.010 and 0.097 percent, respectively). In a cohort of 161 patients undergoing VIT between 2015 and 2018, 2.6 percent had mastocytosis. There was no correlation for tryptase level with venom reaction severity, but the level was higher in patients with systemic VIT reactions.

“Mastocytosis may be less common in the U.S. population compared with European reports with systemic venom reactions, but a strong association remains between HVA and mastocytosis,” the authors write.

Source: Read Full Article