Stung by a honey bee? Avoid these mistakes to ensure emergency treatment

It is painful when a bee stings and injects venom into the skin. Besides causing a painful wound, bee stings could affect the functioning of the kidneys and muscles. Being calm is the first step as soon as you have been stung by a bee. Make sure that the heart rate and breathing are proper. The patient should be given artificial ventilation if required. Do not smoke or consume alcohol after being stung by a bee, as the venom would spread quickly in the blood. Moreover, the patient should not try treating themselves using home remedies or rubbing herbs on the wound.

Dr Ranjith Mathew (Medical Officer, Community Health Centre, Angadikadavu)
Bee stings should not be dismissed as minor wounds. Things could get dangerous if you have been stung multiple times. When a bee stings you, its stinger, which contains venom, detaches from its body and sticks to your skin, causing allergies. The intensity of the allergic reaction may be mild, moderate or severe. Anti allergic medicines can calm mild allergies. However, the blood pressure could drop drastically, and muscles would weaken in case of a severe allergic reaction. Besides, bee stings could also adversely affect the functioning of the kidneys. The patient will be administered medicines to regulate the blood pressure level followed by dialysis. However, in some extreme cases, the patient could still lose his/her life despite following all these steps.

Dr Tom Jose Kakkanat (nephrologist)
The most important step during a bee or wasp attack is to run to safety, as the bees would attack in hordes. They mostly sting on the face and head, so try to protect these areas by wearing helmets or covering your head and body using a sack or thick clothes. You could also sit inside an enclosed vehicle like a car with rolled windows.
KV Shivadas (Retd. District Officer, Fire and Safety, Kottayam)