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.