Stings and allergic reactions

If someone may be having anaphylaxis

While you wait for the ambulance

healthdirect’s page on anaphylaxis lists what to do while waiting, in this order:

1. Lie the person down flat and keep them still. Do not let them stand up or walk.
2. If they are unconscious, put them in the recovery position.
3. If they are struggling to breathe or are vomiting, let them sit up with their legs stretched out in front.
4. Give an adrenaline autoinjector if one has not been given yet.
5. If the symptoms are still there 5 minutes after the first injection, give a second adrenaline autoinjector.

If the person does not respond and is not breathing normally, begin CPR.

If you are unsure, healthdirect says to use the adrenaline autoinjector anyway: using it beats holding back treatment for a serious reaction. Adrenaline given when it was not needed has no serious side effects, and it can save a life. If the person has asthma as well, give the adrenaline autoinjector first and the asthma reliever puffer after it.

When to see a doctor straight away

healthdirect says to see a doctor straight away when:

• the sting is inside the mouth, or on the neck or face
• the sting is on the eyelid or in the eye
• a child has been stung 5 or more times
• an adult has been stung 10 or more times.

Its key facts add: see your doctor for a sting in the mouth or eye, or if you have ever had a severe allergic reaction before.

Caring for a sting at home

For a sting with no sign of a severe reaction, these are healthdirect’s self-care steps, in its order:

1. After a bee sting, get the sting out as fast as you can, scraping it out gently with the edge of a fingernail or a credit card.
2. Do not pull it out: that can squeeze the venom sac and push more venom in.
3. Wash the spot with soap and water, then put an ice pack on it.
4. Wrap the ice pack in a towel or cloth every time, so it never goes straight onto the skin.
5. Keep it there for 15 minutes. If the pain keeps going, use a fresh cold pack.

Wasps don’t usually leave their sting in the skin. The area may be red and swollen for a few days.

Some other pages still describe applying a pressure immobilisation bandage after a sting, including Victoria’s Better Health Channel page on European wasps, last reviewed 23 October 2018, and the Australian Museum’s honey bee page. healthdirect’s current steps, last reviewed June 2025, do not include one.

Medicines healthdirect mentions

• For a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), give an adrenaline autoinjector and follow the allergy action plan.
• Pain relief such as paracetamol or anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) can be taken if needed.
• Antihistamine tablets can help ease the itch.
• For severe swelling, a doctor may suggest a few days of corticosteroid tablets.
• Antibiotics are not needed unless the swelling is getting worse more than 48 hours after the sting, a sign that the sting may be infected.

What a sting usually does

How badly someone reacts can depend on their age, their size, the number of stings, whether they have had a previous allergic reaction, and other illnesses such as allergies. healthdirect also describes a toxic reaction (envenomation), which usually happens after 500 or more stings. Its symptoms are dizziness, nausea (feeling sick) or vomiting, diarrhoea, and organ and muscle damage, and envenomation can cause death.

healthdirect lists other complications of a sting: blisters; a reaction that lasts for weeks or months; skin infections, cellulitis among them; vasculitis (inflamed blood vessels); and worry about another sting that affects your quality of life.

Bee or wasp: the difference for a sting

A bee leaves its sting and venom sac in you and dies, so it can sting only once. A wasp can sting multiple times; it doesn’t leave its sting in you and doesn’t die. European wasps are more aggressive than bees and will attack if you disturb their nests.

Honeybee stings are the most common cause of allergic reactions, but stings from native Australian bees can also cause one. Bee and wasp stings have different chemicals, so if you are allergic to one type you may not react to another.

healthdirect quotes pain ratings for some Australian stings on the Schmidt sting pain index, where 4 is the most painful:

• Honeybee: 2
• Paper wasp: 3
• Spider wasp: 4

After a severe reaction

healthdirect says anyone who has had anaphylaxis, or might have, should ask their GP to refer them to an allergy specialist, and that people with an allergy should carry an anaphylaxis action plan, and an adrenaline autoinjector if one has been prescribed, at all times.

Allergen immunotherapy (desensitisation) works to prevent bee and wasp sting allergies and is likely to also lower the risk of anaphylaxis. healthdirect says it is advised for children whose reactions involve more than just the skin, for adults with reactions including those that involve just the skin, and for beekeepers. The treatment usually lasts 3 to 5 years and is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Fewer stings

healthdirect lists these ways to help prevent bee and wasp stings:

• wearing shoes whenever you are outside
• not provoking bees, since honeybees usually sting only to defend themselves
• covering food and drinks outdoors, since food and drink draw wasps
• cleaning up sticky spills at once
• getting professionals to remove bee or wasp nests, since doing it yourself makes a sting more likely
• teaching children about bees and wasps, such as where they live and to leave them alone.

Which wasp or bee is which: European wasps, paper wasps and native wasps, and bee swarms.

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