A referral from your physician or specialist and an appointment is required before arriving at the allergy outpatient clinic.

1. Medical consultation

You tell the doctor about your symptoms after being stung or bitten by various insects. The test can be conducted at the earliest 2-3 weeks after such a bite or sting, and at the latest 1-2 years afterwards. The test programme is drawn up based on this medical consultation and according to the examinations requested by the referrer. The test usually consists of:

2. Blood sample

Because insect venom allergies represent an immune reaction to certain substances in the insect venom, the antibodies developed in this process can be determined in a blood sample. The laboratory examination of the blood sample usually takes a week.

3. Skin testing

In this case, insect venoms (bee, wasp, etc.) at various dilutions are dripped onto the skin and then the uppermost layer of skin is punctured through the drops with a lancet. This process is virtually painless. In a positive test reaction (= allergy) an itchy wheal similar to a mosquito bite will form on the skin. In the case that the test results turn out to be negative, the insect venom samples will be injected into the skin and the reactions will be examined.

4. Medical consultation

After completion of all examinations, you will receive a report containing all tests and their results. The diagnostic findings will be given to you by a doctor and explained. If necessary, a therapy proposal will be offered.

For instructions on the treatment of bites and stings, please refer to the page titled “Insect venom allergy” under the category “Allergies” on this homepage. Time required for the allergy test: usually 2 times 1 hour (including waiting times).