Our four year old seems to have a body chemistry that attracts bees. She has been stung twice at school on two different days and several times while playing outside at home. One bee sting that she received was in the middle of her forehead. Her forehead swelled and almost looked like a baseball, cut in half, had been placed under her skin. The swelling was also surrounding her eyes. She looked like one of the alien races on the television series Star Trek Voyager.

The bee stings didn’t affect her breathing, so the pediatrician wasn’t concerned. I was giving her Benadryl and rubbing cortisone cream on the stings to reduce the itching, and swelling. The pediatrician said to continue with that treatment and contact the office if the area turned bright red, her breathing was affected, or she began to run a fever. The swelling was almost gone and her face looked almost normal Saturday night when she went to bed.

Then, Sunday morning, she woke up with a bright red circle around one of her eyes. Her eye was nearly swollen shut and it looked as if she had been in a fistfight during the night. Luckily, our pediatrician office is open on Sunday mornings. While the family went to church, we went around the corner to the doctor’s office.

They were concerned that she may have developed an Orbital cellulitis from the bee sting. Orbital cellulitis is an acute infection of the tissues immediately surrounding the eye, including the eyelids, eyebrow, and cheek. It is a dangerous infection with potentially serious complications.
Bacteria from a sinus infection usually cause this condition in children however; it is also caused by bug bites, a stye, or an eyelid injury. Orbital cellulitis infections in children may get worse very quickly and can lead to blindness so immediate medical attention is necessary. One of my friends said that her son was hospitalized twice, each time for three days, due to this condition.
Fortunately, our four year old did not have orbital cellulitis. The pediatrician ran a CBC in the office and it was normal, had she had the condition it would have been elevated. She did not have a temperature, nor had she had one. Generally, a person with orbital cellulitis has a temperature of 102 degrees F or higher. The doctor did prescribe an antibiotic because it did appear to be some type of localized infection.
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