A tick-borne condition known as alpha-gal syndrome, which triggers severe allergic reactions to red meat and animal products, is seeing a significant rise in reported cases across the United States. <\/p>\n
Tick bites have long been associated with Lyme disease, but health experts now emphasize the risk of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), an allergic condition. Symptoms typically manifest after consuming red meat or mammal-derived products, including dairy and gelatin.<\/p>\n
Research indicates that AGS can also cause dangerous intolerances to certain medications, vaccines, contact lenses, surgical sutures, and tattoo ink.<\/p>\n
According to reports from the AP, cases of AGS are rising. Columbia University researcher Maria Diuk-Wasser suggests this trend is partly due to increased awareness and better diagnostic efforts regarding tick-borne illnesses.<\/p>\n
Between 2010 and 2018, over 34,000 suspected cases were identified in the U.S., with a total of 110,229 documented between 2010 and 2022. The CDC notes that the actual number could be as high as 450,000, as many cases likely go unreported.<\/p>\n
Reactions to alpha-gal syndrome vary from mild cases manageable with over-the-counter antihistamines to severe anaphylactic shock requiring hospitalization. Some individuals may see their allergy fade after several years.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Xolair, a biologic injection containing omalizumab, to help manage severe allergic reactions, including those caused by AGS. The only proven preventative measure is avoiding tick bites.<\/p>\n
In 2021, allergist Grzegorz Por\u0119bski and colleagues from Jagiellonian University published a study in the Central European Journal of Immunology detailing the first identified case of AGS in Poland. The report described a 32-year-old man who suffered five episodes of anaphylaxis within three months.<\/p>\n
The patient reported symptoms including abdominal pain and hives across his torso and limbs, with one episode involving throat tightness and shortness of breath. The man had previously consumed red meat and had suffered two bites from what was likely an Ixodes ricinus tick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A tick-borne condition known as alpha-gal syndrome, which triggers severe allergic reactions to red meat and animal products, is seeing a significant rise in reported cases across the United States. The Dangers of Alpha-gal Syndrome Tick bites have long been associated with Lyme disease, but health experts now emphasize the risk of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}