Anaphylaxis, drug allergy, urticaria, and angioedemaA dynamic relationship between two regional causes of IgE-mediated anaphylaxis: α-Gal syndrome and imported fire ant
Section snippets
Survey of patients with α-Gal syndrome in the United States
The study was carried out by surveying allergists in practice starting in 2016 in an area of the Southeast with a high number of established α-Gal cases. Most surveys were conducted by telephone; however, some provider questionnaires were completed in person at local or national allergy meetings or by e-mail communications. The initial sampling included many allergists in practice known to the authors; however, the participating allergists were asked about other providers in their region who
The epidemiology of α-Gal syndrome in the United States
The first phase of the survey was carried out beginning in 2016. On the basis of prior reports, we initially focused on the Southeast and confirmed that most of the clinics surveyed in this area had diagnosed 5 or more cases of delayed anaphylaxis to mammalian meat in the past 3 years. The survey was then extended outward, and in total we collected information from 152 clinics in 44 states and 1 Canadian province. More than 90% of allergists who were approached agreed to participate in the
Discussion
There are several major issues that we have addressed in the current report: (1) information about the epidemiology of the α-Gal syndrome in the United States, including additional evidence that the immunologic features of the syndrome are similar in geographically distinct areas; (2) further evidence for a connection with the lone star tick; (3) a novel explanation for the apparent “shortage” of α-Gal cases in the Deep South; and (4) increasing evidence that fire ants represent another
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Alpha-Gal IgE Prevalence Patterns in the United States: An Investigation of 3,000 Military Recruits
2024, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In PracticeAllergies to food and airborne allergens in children and adolescents: role of epigenetics in a changing environment
2022, The Lancet Child and Adolescent HealthCitation Excerpt :Apart from repeated tick bites, polysensitisation (to other allergens) during childhood, and male sex, appear to be individual risk factors for later α-gal sensitisation.19 Detailed studies of tick populations are scarce; however, climate change is thought to be contributing to changes in the distribution and ecology of these ticks, which, in turn, is altering the areas where human populations are susceptible to developing α-gal-mediated meat allergy.20 Concerns about the environmental and climate effects of animal agriculture have led some families to adopt vegetarian and vegan diets.
Tick exposures and alpha-gal syndrome: A systematic review of the evidence
2021, Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesCitation Excerpt :Further research is required to examine the possible influence of blood type, and other risk factors, on AGS development. Given the role of tick bites as the primary exposure leading to AGS (Fischer et al., 2020a; Mateo-Borrega et al., 2019; Wilson et al., 2020), prevention and awareness efforts with the public should focus on the importance of avoiding tick exposures in tick-endemic areas. Research on Lyme disease prevention suggests that increasing public awareness of tick-borne diseases is an important predictive factor affecting people’s likelihood to engage in tick prevention behaviours, such as tick checks and applying insect repellant (Aenishaenslin et al., 2017; Niesobecki et al., 2019).
Prevalence of alpha-gal sensitization among Kentucky timber harvesters and forestry and wildlife practitioners
2021, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practiceα-Gal specific-IgE prevalence and levels in Ecuador and Kenya: Relation to diet, parasites, and IgG<inf>4</inf>
2021, Journal of Allergy and Clinical ImmunologyCitation Excerpt :Similar findings, including the higher rates in males than females, have also been reported in North America.22 In the United States, these variables lose significance when accounting for tick exposure,22 which is consistent with a large body of evidence that supports the connection between tick bites and α-Gal sensitization in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan.1 Unfortunately, tick history was not available in the current studies and there are no validated serologic assays to determine previous tick exposure.
α-Gal on Crotalidae-polyvalent Fab antivenom (CroFab): Investigating the relevance to immediate hypersensitivity reactions
2021, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice
Supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant NIH R37 AI-20565 [to T.P.M.]).
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: T.A.E. Platts-Mills and T. Merritt have a patent on an IgE assay to α-Gal, and T. Platts-Mills has received assay support from Thermo Fisher/Phadia. J. Wilson has received research support from Thermo Fisher/Phadia. S. Commins has been on the speaker’s bureau for Genentech. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.
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These authors contributed equally to this article.