The January 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine has an article that
estimates the number of Americans at risk for Anaphylaxis is substantially
higher than previously estimated.  Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening
allergic reaction to insect stings, some foods, latex, and other irritants.

You can read a synopsis of the article on-line at

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/issues/v161n1/abs/ira00008.html

The authors estimate that 1.36 to 13.6 million Americans are at risk of
anaphylaxis from insect stings. Their findings are based on reviews of
published papers.  I am not a doctor and am not qualified to critique the
paper, but it is a rather dramatic departure from the few sources I am
familiar with, such as the chapter on allergic reactions in "The Hive and the
Honeybee."  The authors recommend that doctors discuss the issue with high-
risk patients, but the information I have at hand suggests that there is no
effective way to identify high-risk patients in advance.

The complete article is available on-line to AMA members.  Perhaps some
appropriately qualified beekeepers will be kind enough to review the full
article and critique it for the list.