Bee pollen allergy in Polish beekeepers and their families

A bee pollen allergy is rare and often confused with a pollen allergy. The possibility of inducing an allergy in pollen allergic patients by bee pollen is still controversial. To determine the prevalence of bee pollen allergy in beekeepers and their families and its possible association with other conditions. The questionnaire study was carried out on 493 Polish beekeepers. The questionnaire was based on the current literature and touched on several aspects of a bee products allergy. Only 19.4% (493 from 2540 questionnaires sent) of questionnaires were returned by 15 October 2011. From the total group, only 2 beekeepers reported adverse reactions after bee pollen ingestion. They presented only minor reactions. From 493 beekeepers, 43 responders reported other allergies. From that group, no one reported a concomitant bee pollen allergy. Additionally, beekeepers reported only 22 cases of bee pollen intolerance among their customers and in family members a bee pollen allergy occurred in 0.56% of cases. This preliminary study provides some new aspects on the bee pollen allergy. The thesis that a bee pollen allergy is associated with the occurrence of proteins from bee saliva rather than the occurrence of anemophilous plant pollen should be evaluated in future studies