Allergies and COVID-19: Why Continuing Treatment is So Important
For those with allergies to bee stings and insect venom, every trip outside can be a frightening experience. These allergy victims never know when a sting will come out of nowhere, sending them scrambling for their epi-pens and possibly even sending them to the emergency room.
The fact that bee sting allergies can impact so many aspects of someone’s life is just one reason why continuing with venom immunotherapy is so important, even in the time of COVID-19. The pandemic is truly dangerous, but there are protocols in place to keep patients safe as they continue with their therapy and learn to live without the constant fear of stinging insects and other outdoor allergens.
It is only natural to try to avoid public spaces and crowded gatherings in the age of coronavirus. Making these common sense changes and taking these precautions is a very smart thing to do, but that should not mean a disruption in your medical care or making a change to your immunotherapy.
The fact is the risk of bee stings for an allergic individual is far greater than even the risk of COVID-19 infection, and continuing therapy for these allergic reactions is actually more important than ever. With indoor spaces especially dangerous in terms of COVID-19 exposure, spending time outdoors can be a smart, and healthy, alternative, but only if you continue your venom immunotherapy treatments so you can safely spend time outside and worry less about bee stings.
Stopping your therapy too soon could have devastating consequences in the age of COVID-19, both for allergy sufferers and for the public health system as a whole. Ever since the pandemic got started, emergency rooms have been overrun, with long waits and the ever-present danger of transmission. If you stop your venom immunotherapy too soon and head outdoors before your treatments have concluded, you could be at greater risk of a serious allergic reaction – and a trip to an already overwhelmed ER.
By continuing with your venom immunotherapy treatments, you can protect yourself from the danger of bee stings and potentially dangerous reactions. Plus you will also be doing your part to protect the wider public by easing the strain on overcrowded emergency rooms and preserving valuable resources for the sickest patients.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic started raging, preventing illness was always preferable to trying to treat it after the fact. This is certainly the case when it comes to bee stings, and by continuing with their allergy treatments, those who are hypersensitive to insect venom can continue to live their lives without worrying about what is behind every bush or lurking inside every outdoor trash can.
Venom immunotherapy has proven to be remarkably effective, with as many as 98 out of 100 patients showing improvements over their non-treated counterparts. If you have been undergoing this type of therapy to deal with your insect venom allergy, now is not the time to stop. And if you have not considered this type of treatment before, now is the perfect time to learn more about it, and the more you know the easier it will be to make an informed and intelligent decision.