Meat Allergies Likely Result of Tick Bites
Lone star tick bites are likely the cause of thousands of cases of severe red-meat allergies plaguing patients in Southeastern states and spreading up the Eastern Seaboard.
痴补苍诲别谤产颈濒迟鈥檚 (A.S.A.P.) clinic is seeing one or more new cases each week of patients allergic to the alpha-gal sugar present in red meat, according to , MD鈥�05, assistant professor of medicine. Alpha-gal (short for galactose-alpha-1, 3-galactose) is a sugar carbohydrate found in the red meat of nonprimate mammals.
鈥淚t is not completely understood exactly how the allergy starts,鈥� Valet says. 鈥淭he thought is that the tick has the alpha-gal sugar in its gut and introduces it as part of the allergic bite, which causes the production of the allergy antibody that then cross-reacts to the meat.鈥�
The allergy can cause hives, swelling, and broader symptoms of anaphylaxis including vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing, and a drop in blood pressure. 鈥淐ertainly, these patients can present with every bit as severe of an allergy as someone who is allergic to peanuts,鈥� says Valet.
Alpha-gal patients can safely eat poultry, but red meats such as beef and pork, and game like venison, will cause a reaction. Some patients react to milk. The allergy can produce a delayed anaphylactic shock four to six hours after eating red meat.
That鈥檚 what happened to Hendersonville, Tenn., resident September Norman last July. While staying at Tennessee鈥檚 Fall Creek Falls State Park, she and her husband played some golf and then grilled rib-eye steaks for dinner.
鈥淎t about midnight I woke up and was itching very badly, kind of like a rash,鈥� she remembers. 鈥淎bout 2:30 a.m. I got up and my hands felt like they were on fire, like I鈥檇 been bitten by fire ants. I drank two bottles of water, sat on the sofa, and it wasn鈥檛 five minutes before I felt my tongue and lip swelling and told my husband something was wrong. I could barely talk at that point, my tongue was so thick.鈥�
They drove from the park toward the interstate to get a cellphone signal to call 911.
鈥淚 was getting worse,鈥� says Norman. 鈥淢y whole body was red and broken out in hives. I was staring out the window, saying, 鈥楶lease, God, not here.鈥欌��
Emergency responders gave Norman an epinephrine injection, and she received Benadryl, an IV and steroids during the ambulance ride to Sparta, the closest hospital. The doctor there said her reaction was probably environmental and sent her home with a prescription and advice to always carry an EpiPen.
She continued to eat red meat, and as the week wore on and her steroids from the hospital wore off, Norman felt her throat becoming tighter and tighter.
鈥淲e went to 菠萝视频, and talked to me about what happened to me,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淚 was retracing my steps and remembered that, in the middle of June, a tick had bitten me on the foot. She sent me to Dr. Valet, and he said he knew what I had based on the tick and my reactions.鈥�
鈥淭hings like your classic barbecue really become off-limits,鈥� says Valet. 鈥淲e know that repeated tick bites cause the level of allergy antibody to rise, and so we recommend people with this allergy to practice good tick avoidance and to carry an EpiPen in case they have an exposure to red meat and need to rescue themselves.鈥�