New ticks make people allergic to lean meat

As Tom Muir commute daily from Virginia to a federal job in Washington, DC, he realized something was very wrong.

On those drives, he began to realize that “my eyes would swell and my lips would swell.” There was a hot flush and my heart rate was passing through the roof. “

Muir, who often works outdoors on farms in Fauquier County for two years, had an increasingly severe allergic reaction to something, but he couldn’t understand what. He went to an allergy clinic but was negative about general food allergies. He began assembling the pieces when a bee puncture wound him landing in the emergency room.

He told the doctor that his reaction seemed to occur at any time after eating the lean meat he often had. “I ate bacon for breakfast, steak for lunch, and burgers for dinner,” he says.

Muir was found to have had alpha-gal syndrome, named after the sugar molecule, alpha-gal, or galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose. People with AGS are sometimes called “meat allergies” because they can’t eat lean meat without getting sick.

AGS is most often transmitted to humans by eerie crawling ticks, which may not be larger than poppy seeds. “Around [Washington] The region has the highest number of ticks ever encountered, “says Holly Gaff of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, who studies ticks, their behavior, and the diseases they carry.

The tick’s name does not come from Texas (it does not), but comes from the white dot on the back of an adult woman, the “tick”. Gaff says these demons are surprisingly strong and can withstand both sub-zero temperatures and extremely high temperatures.

Mites are also very aggressive. It can move at amazing speeds and hunts in swarms to flock hosts, unlike Lyme disease-related black-footed mites that hang in lush undergrowth to wait for food.

Gaff says: “They are bullies in the tick world.”

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Few doctors heard about AGS and ticks in 2009 when Muir was diagnosed. This condition was identified only five years before allergy researcher and immunologist Thomas Platts-Mills of the University of Virginia began studying the association between AGS and its tick bites.

More patients were diagnosed when the disorder was named. “In the last five or six years, the number of patients with allergies has increased,” said Nader Soliman, an anesthesiologist and director of Rockville’s alternative medicine center that treats people across the country. “70% of my Lyme disease patients have alpha gals.”

Only 10 years ago, small tick populations were found in the northeastern and central eastern United States, but as the white-tailed deer population exploded, so did the tick epidemic. Mostly found in the woods and tall grass, where you can find your favorite meal, the white-tailed deer. But it also comes to our home by catching our shoes and pet vehicles.

There is no scientifically supported number that indicates the number of people with AGS, as AGS does not yet have a medical diagnostic code and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not tracked it. A US laboratory is testing the presence of α-galIgE antibody, with a total of 580,000 cases reported in 2018. However, online maps of self-reported cases created by the AGS people show that they are in rural environments with more forests than usual, as well as DC, Reston, Falls Church, and Green Zone. Virginia is a national hotspot, according to a report from the Health and Welfare Services Advisory Subcommittee on AGS.

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There is no cure for AGS. Those who contract it must stop consuming lean meat (beef, lamb, pork, hunting meat). Antihistamines can help the reaction. Some patients are so sensitive that eating grilled meat once or inhaling barbecue smoke can compete for EpiPen and Benadryl.

Soliman has succeeded in providing people with patented acupuncture that blocks the body’s response to allergies and triggers remission. But he says only about 150 doctors and licensed acupuncturists in the country are trained this way.

Patients should also avoid products made with bovine gelatin and other mammalian-derived ingredients. These include bandage glue and some medications and vaccinations, as well as daily necessities such as certain cosmetics, vitamins and lotions.

This has proven difficult for some patients, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deborah Olsen was bitten by a tick in 2012 while gardening on another known AGS hotspot, the Eastern Shore. For years she suffered from anaphylactic attacks, painful wheals, and a trip to the hospital. It took her more than seven years to be diagnosed with AGS. In the meantime, I’ve eliminated a lot of things from my diet, including lean meat, to save time outdoors. (She eventually sold her farm and moved to a more suburban area of ​​Delaware.) Olsen also began paying attention to food, medicine, and almost every other label.

In February 2020, she signed with Covid while still suffering from AGS.

“Testing for drugs that were alpha galsafe during Covid was a bit challenging, but I was able to do that,” she says.

Since then, when it comes to vaccines, Olsen, now 60, didn’t hesitate. According to both companies, none of the Pfizer, Modana, Johnson & Johnson vaccines contain mammalian products. The CDC states that neither gelatin or preservative is used in either mRNA vaccine.

Apart from the vaccine, Solimon says there is very limited data on how the coronavirus affects AGS patients. This is because little is known about either illness.

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Lyme disease is still a much more common illness, and not all people bitten by ticks develop AGS. Infection rates depend on many factors, including a person’s immune health and blood type. (The molecular structure of AGS is similar to the molecular structure of antigens already found in B and AB blood types, which clearly provides some protection for people of these types. A or O People with blood types are five times more likely to be diagnosed with the syndrome.)

“Allergies are strange,” says Gaff. “”[Alpha-gal] It’s like allergies to dogs and cats. Most dogs and cats have dander that causes an allergic reaction, but not everyone responds to it. “

Lonely stars do not cause only AGS. According to the CDC, mites can infect other troublesome tick-borne diseases such as powassan virus, ehrlichiosis, and tularemia, each with its own unique effects. Ticks and AGS can also cause a range of other health complications. For example, the University of Virginia has been conducting research linking people who are sensitive to the AGS gene to people who are at much higher risk of heart disease.

Muir, who had to take allergy shots every month, was allergic to other things. “Allergies to dog hair, bee and bee puncture wounds have skyrocketed.”

Both Olsen and Muir eventually learned how to manage their illness. They pay close attention to what they eat and often avoid restaurants and other places that may be around the meat. They never leave home without EpiPen and do regular tick checks.

Olsen is not currently completely avoiding the outdoors, but the syndrome is suppressing her activity. “I used to love swimming, hiking, roller skating, and very active activities,” she says. “I have become a very recluse.”

“People check out from the mainstream,” says Beth Callison, who signed with AGS at her home in Massachusetts. “Parents are known for homeschooling AGS children because they are not exposed to glue, glue, or crayons.”

In 2018, Carrison worked with UNC public health researcher Jennifer Pratt to teach and advocate the study of ticks after being diagnosed with another tick-borne disease, ehrlichiosis. Founded a tick-borne disease United. Mites and lesser-known diseases are spread by mites.

They are bipartisan Kay Hagan named in honor of former Senator Kay Hagan, a Democrat in North Carolina who died in October 2019 due to complications from the tick-borne Powassan virus.・ We are working to support the implementation of the measures of the Tick Act. Last year, $ 5 million was allocated to tick law for further research, surveillance and education of tick-borne diseases, and the federal government plans to spend $ 91 million on tick-borne diseases this year.

“I’m talking to people who can’t work in an office where people are wearing perfumes or can’t smell someone’s lunch getting hot,” says Carrison. A woman at AGS told Pratt that her employer had put her in the building herself so as not to cause anaphylaxis.

There are several silver linings. AGS recognition was relatively rapid compared to Lime, which took decades before only baseline studies and treatments became available. Congress is considering measures requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a national strategy to address tick-borne diseases, including AGS.

People diagnosed with this disease can be reassured that, if properly managed, people may be in remission over time. For Muir, the need to cut lean meat offers another advantage. “It’s amazing to my cholesterol levels,” he says. “I eat a lot, and let’s face it, it’s cheaper when you go to eat.”

But he’s still waiting for the day when AGS will decline significantly, so he can eat nice steaks and burgers on his birthday. “It’s been over 10 years.”

How to protect yourself from ticks

cover up. The measures to prevent ticks are the same as for Lyme disease ticks. Put on a hat, long-sleeved shirt, and long pants, and push your feet into your socks. Keep in mind that it’s easy to find mites in light-colored clothes.

Use a repellent. Permethrin is very effective not only in repelling mites, but also in nullifying them. However, it is toxic to humans and is best applied only to clothing. Another alternative, DEET, is a mild mite repellent that can be applied to the skin. Other repellents, including those provided by TickWarriors.com, owned by public health researcher Jennifer Platt, who co-founded the advocacy group Tick-Borne Conditions United, claim to be safer for the environment.

Anti-tick your garden. Remove fallen leaves, mow the lawn frequently, and mow tall grass around the house and on the edge of the lawn. Use cedar root coverings and chips to create barriers to limit the movement of mites.

Check for ticks. After entering from the outside, inspect every part of the body, including behind the knees, elbows and armpits, and behind the ears. Mites love warm and dark places and can be as small as poppy seeds.

Also check your clothing. The best way to kill mites is to tumble dry your clothes for 10 to 15 minutes or wash them with hot water. Cold or lukewarm water does not kill mites.

Remove ticks. If you find one, don’t panic. The CDC states that mites need to adhere for at least 9-48 hours before the diseased bacteria can become infected. The best way to get rid of it is to use tweezers. Don’t burn out. Do not use your fingers. Squeezing mites can spit out the pathogens they carry. Do not twist it as it may fall apart. If that happens and the mouth cannot be removed, thoroughly clean the area and wait for the skin to heal. If the bacteria have not been transferred, the mites will not cause you illness. Tools for removing ticks, such as tick keys and tick lassos, are available online. Alternatively, you can use tweezers. For best results, make sure the tweezers are detailed.

Test the ticks you care about. I was bitten? Mail-order labs such as Tick Check can test mailed ticks for common tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease for about $ 50. These tests are not done by AGS because allergies are derived from tick saliva rather than a specific infectious agent. Physicians can test AGS antibodies and work through Viracor, one US lab that tests alpha-galIgE antibodies.

This article appeared in the July 2021 issue of Washingtonian.