Up to 450,000 people in the U.S. may have alpha-gal syndrome, a meat allergy linked to tick bites many physicians have never heard of, according to new findings from the CDC.
Symptoms of the condition vary from person to person, ranging from hives and nausea to anaphylactic shock. The syndrome is named after the sugar molecule galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, which is found in most mammalian meat. Lone star ticks are believed to be the cause: When a person is bit by a tick and the sugar is transmitted, their immune system can label it as a threat, causing it to overreact when they eat meat, experts told The New York Times.
A CDC study published July 28 estimates up to 450,000 people could have the syndrome. It is a crude estimate, researchers said, given the absence of a national surveillance system. The study was based on a review of antibody test results.
A second study published the same day was based on a survey of 1,500 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Findings showed 42 percent had never heard of the syndrome and 35 percent were not confident in their ability to diagnose or manage patients with alpha-gal syndrome.
This speaks to the experience of one physician who has diagnosed hundreds of alpha-gal syndrome cases.
"This is a story that every patient of mine tells me, that 'I had to go to five physicians before they could tell me what it was," Maya Jerath, MD, PhD, an allergist and immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis, told the Times. "It's nice to have numbers behind it, and it's definitely a call to action."