Honey Bee Sting and Venom Offering Active as Well as Passive Immunization Could Reduce Swine Flu Pandemic A (H1N1)

Medical Hypotheses, Article in Press

An endemic of human transmitted swine influenza H1N1 could have casualties on a scale seen in the great Spanish influenza pandemic 1918 to 1920.

This paper proposes that should such occur before effective vaccines and antiviral drugs are available, the outbreak could be significantly slowed down by honey bee sting and/or honey bee venom therapy.

Honey bee sting or venom therapy proved to be have anti-inflammatory activity via the inhibition of iNOS and TNF-α expression and also immunostimulatory activity via 5-Hydroxytryptamine (chemical constituent in honey bee sting and venom) - potentiation of T-cell activation.

Growth of research put forward the fact that immunomodulatory agents possess antiviral activity. Because the cause of human-transmitted swine origin influenza virus A H1N1 pandemic is weak a immune system and the major symptoms are pneumonia and neuralgia, honey bee sting and/or venom therapy could be the future of the influenza treatment.

This novel approach might also have utility for other serious respiratory infectious disease.