Successful administration of a 1-day imported fire ant rush immunotherapy protocol

Background: Young children with a history of systemic reactions to imported fire ant (IFA) stings are at substantial risk of recurrent stings because of their maturational inability to practice appropriate avoidance techniques. Objective: To present 3 cases in which patients 36 months or younger completed a 1-day rush immunotherapy (RIT) protocol with IFA whole-body extract (WBE). Methods: The 1-day RIT protocol used for these patients was modified from the Wilford Hall 2-day rush protocol previously published. A 1:1 vol/vol maintenance vial consisted of 1 mL of IFA WBE and 9 mL of human serum albumin diluent in a 10-mL vial. Results: All 3 patients had positive intradermal skin test results to IFA WBE. No systemic reactions occurred during the 1-day RIT. Conclusions: This case series provides data with which we can begin to assess the efficacy and safety of a 1-day IFA RIT protocol for the prevention of anaphylaxis in IFA allergic children. Further studies with larger numbers of patients are needed to confirm the findings.