Immunotherapy with Hymenoptera venoms is effective against allergies to bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, white faced hornets, and fire ants.
The greatest success with prevention of anaphylaxis has been the use of allergy injections to prevent recurrence of sting allergy.
The risk to an individual from a particular species of insect depends on complex interactions between likelihood of human contact, insect aggression, efficiency of the venom delivery apparatus, and venom allergenicity.
Venom immunotherapy reduces risk of systemic reactions below 3%. One simple method of venom extraction has been electrical stimulation to obtain venom, instead of dissecting the venom sac.
A potential vaccine has been developed to prevent anaphylaxis due to peanut and tree nut allergies if they are exposed to a small amount of peanuts or nuts.
Although it shows some promise to reduce the likelihood of anaphylaxis in affected individuals, the vaccine has not yet been approved for marketing and distribution.
Desensitization techniques are also being studied for peanut allergies.
Further Reading
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"Anaphylaxis"
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