Introduction
Late sequelae are the delayed appearance of symptoms in relation to the actual disease event, in this case the wasp sting. They usually occur at the earliest two to three days after the wasp sting and are therefore no longer directly part of the acute course of the disease. Overall, however, late effects of wasp stings are rather rare and occur almost only in allergy sufferers. They can manifest themselves in the form of flu-like symptoms, circulation problems or even permanent sensitization. So if you are not an allergy sufferer, there is a very high probability that you will not have to fear any late effects.
The most frequent late effects
The following symptoms occur most frequently in allergy sufferers:
- Flu-like illness with fever due to overreaction of the immune system,
- Heart and circulation problems due to dilatation of the vessels in case of a severe allergy,
- Permanent sensitization (= development of a manifest allergy after the first stitch),
- Chronic pain with delayed or complicated wound healing,
- Bubble formation and
- Scarring at the puncture site during healing of a wasp sting, if blistering was present.
Rare late effects
The following symptoms occur less frequently, but are possible in principle:Sepsis” means blood poisoning. It is a life-threatening disease that requires intensive medical care of the affected person in hospital. In the case of wasp stings, however, the full picture of a sepsis is relatively rarely pronounced, since only in a few cases is an infection transmitted by a wasp sting.
The symptoms of sepsis are similar to those of an anaphylactic shock, but in contrast to shock, medical diagnostics do show impairment of various organ functions. Edema can be both an acute consequence of a wasp sting and a late consequence. They often manifest themselves within minutes to hours in the area around the mosquito bite and recede within days with a normal healing process.
A longer existence of an edema speaks for a persistence of the allergen in the area of the bite, as for example in the case of a not complete removal of the sting or for an excessive immune reaction in the context of an allergy. If the swelling persists, a doctor should assess whether the lymphatic system is also affected. If this is the case, manual lymph drainage is recommended to prevent further damage.
In principle, itching is not a direct consequence of a wasp sting, as it only occurs when the body’s own immune system reacts to the wasp sting. As a rule, the immune system reacts immediately to the mosquito bite and special defence cells release the messenger substance histamine. This irritates sensitive nerve endings in the skin, which those affected perceive as itching.
The more wasp venom was injected during the bite, the more defense cells recognize the venom as “foreign” and release the histamine. Conversely, this means that as long as wasp venom is still in the skin, itching can be a possible symptom. The fact that it increases over time is often due to the psychogenic fixation on the mosquito bite and the manipulation of the mosquito bite itself by scratching.
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