Table 1. Distribution of therapy failures during the maintenance phase of VIT with respect to baseline parameters.

Variable		Emergency intervention (sting challenge)or generalized symptoms (field sting)		p value
		No (n = 335)	Yes (n = 22)
Gender	male	199 (94%)	12 (6%)	0.407
	female	136 (93%)	10 (7%)
Highest degree of index sting reaction preceding VIT	I or II	243 (93%)	17 (7%)	0.420
	III or IV	92 (95%)	5 (5%)
Type of venom	wasp	255 (96%)	12 (4%)	0.027
	honey bee	80 (89%)	10 (11%)
Venom dose (µg) during maintenance therapy	100	323 (94%)	20 (6%)	0.211
	200	12 (86%)	2 (14%)
Side effects during build-up or maintenance phase	yes	26 (87%)	4 (13%)	0.102
	no	309 (94%)	18 (6%)
ACE-inhibitor medication at sting challenge/field sting	yes	15 (100%)	0 (0%)	0.378
	no	320 (94%)	22 (6%)
Beta-blocker medication at sting challenge/field sting	yes	9 (100%)	0 (0%)	0.560
	no	326 (94%)	22 (6%)
Any antihypertensive medication at sting challenge/field sting	yes	39 (98%)	1 (2%)	0.148
	no	296 (93%)	21 (7%)
Verification of VIT effectiveness by sting challenge	yes	146 (95%)	8 (5%)	0.333
	no	189 (93%)	14 (7%)
Preventive use of oral antihistamines or antihistaminesand corticosteroids after the field sting	yes	29 (100%)	0 (0%)	0.145
	no	306 (93%)	22 (7%)
Age (years) at sting challenge/field sting according to median	<45	172 (93%)	12 (7%)	0.473
	≥45	163 (94%)	10 (6%)
Time interval (months) between the end of build up andsting challenge/field sting according to median	<17	172 (92%)	14 (8%)	0.185
	≥17	163 (95%)	8 (5%)
BTC (µg/l) according to normal value	≤11.4	304 (93%)	21 (7%)	0.393
	>11.4	31 (93%)	1 (3%)

Associations are shown between clinical, demographic and therapeutic parameters and the need for an emergency intervention during an in-hospital sting challenge or, after a field sting by the culprit insect, the development of any type of generalized symptom.