Can hives kill?

VERY Rarely: Hives are annoying but extremely rarely are life threatening and only if hives cause swelling in throat/upper airway. Usually hives only affect skin and pattern of distribution tends to recur so if previous hive attacks were only on skin, not internal, then unlikely future attack will be internal and affect throat/upper airway.

No: Hives are skin lesions that are warm, red, itchy, blanch when touched and can be on any part of the body. They come and go. They are not contagious. They do not kill. A similar process that affects deeper tissue levels is called angioedema. This swelling and can affect lips, tongue, around eyes, GI tract and less commonly throat severe angioedema in larynx can block airway and may be fatal.