Half a million Americans may have a tick-related meat allergy, C.D.C. Said

Many doctors said they were unfamiliar with the condition, known as alpha-gal syndrome, the agency found .

In one of the new studies, both published Thursday , scientists reviewed the lab results of people who had been tested for the telltale antibodies, identifying 110,000 suspected cases since 2010.

But that figure is likely an understatement. -significant estimate.In the second study, researchers found that 78% of healthcare providers surveyed had little or no knowledge of the condition, and many clinicians who had heard of the syndrome did not know how to diagnose it.

"Our 110,000 suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome represent those who found the health care provider who correctly sent the antibody test," said Dr. Johanna Salzer, CDC disease ecologist and veterinarian. and author of both studies.

When the researchers took this lack of knowledge into account, they estimated that the true toll of the syndrome may be closer to half -million, although Dr. Salzer acknowledged the figure was "a crude estimate". said Dr. Maya Jerath, an allergist and immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis who has treated hundreds of patients with alpha-gal syndrome. "It's a story that every patient of mine tells me that 'I had to see five doctors before they could tell me what it was,'" said Dr Jerath, who didn't participated in the new studies. "It's nice to have numbers behind it, and it's definitely a call to action."

The Alpha- gal, which was not formally identified until the 2000s, takes its name from galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, a sugar found in beef, pork, lamb and most meat. other mammals.(It is not present in humans or other monkeys.) Solitary ticks, which scientists believe are the primary cause of disease in the United States, can transmit sugar to humans through a Some people's immune systems may then label this foreign sugar as a threat and overreact to its presence the next time they eat meat.

Symptoms, which often take hours to appear, are broad and can include hives, nausea, diarrhea or anaphylactic shock. Even patients with the syndrome may not feel sick every time they eat meat. "It's consistently inconsistent," Dr. Salzer said. "So that makes it a real challenge for healthcare providers."

To diagnose the syndrome, clinicians can order a blood test to determine if a patient has antibodies against the alpha-daughter. Until August 2021, a single commercial lab performed nearly all of these antibody tests in the United States. In one of the new studies, researchers looked at the results of antibody tests performed at this lab from 2017 to 2022.

A total of more than 90,000 people have tested positive over this period, and the number of people who test positive has increased each year, from about 13,000 in 2017 to nearly 19,000 in 2021. About 20,000 cases had been identified in a earlier study, which gives a total of 110,000 suspected cases from 2010 to 2022.< /p>

The increasing number of cases identified each year could come from increased awareness, d an increase in the actual prevalence of the syndrome or a combination of both. Solitary ticks are expanding their range, likely due to climate change and other diseases they carry, such as ehrlichi...