VOA健康报道2023 蜱虫叮咬引发的红肉过敏症在美国越来越常见（在线收听）

More than 100,000 people in the United States have become allergic to red meat since 2010 in reaction to tick bites, the government reports.

政府报告称，自2010年以来，美国已有超过10万人因蜱虫叮咬而对红肉过敏。

Medical researchers say they believe many more people have the allergy and do not know it.

医学研究人员表示，他们认为有更多的人患有红肉过敏症，但他们并不知道。

The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released two reports on the subject recently.

美国疾病控制与预防中心最近发布了两份关于这一主题的报告。

Ticks are very small animals that feed on the blood of other animals.

蜱虫是一种非常小的动物，以其他动物的血液为食。

One report estimated that as many as 450,000 Americans have developed the meat allergy.

一份报告估计，多达45万美国人患有红肉过敏症。

That would make it the 10th most common food allergy in the U.S., said Dr. Scott Commins.

斯科特·康明斯博士说，这将会使其成为美国第十大最常见的食物过敏症。

The University of North Carolina researcher co-wrote both reports.

这位北卡罗来纳大学的研究员与其他人共同撰写了这两份报告。

Health officials said they do not know of any confirmed deaths.

卫生官员表示，他们还没有确认是否有死亡病例。

However, people with the allergy have described it as strange and terrifying.

然而，患有红肉过敏症的人形容它是奇怪和可怕的。

"I never connected it with any food because it was hours after eating," said one patient, Bernadine Heller-Greenman.

一位名叫伯纳丁·海勒-格林曼的病人说：“我从来没有把它与任何食物联系起来，因为它是在吃完几个小时后才过敏的。”

The reaction, called alpha-gal syndrome, happens when an infected person eats beef, pork, or other meat of mammals.

这种反应被称为α-半乳糖综合征，当感染者食用牛肉、猪肉或其他哺乳动物的肉时就会出现这种反应。

Taking in other mammal products, such as milk, also causes the reaction.

摄入其他哺乳动物产品，如牛奶，也会引起这种反应。

A sugar called alpha-gal exists in mammal meat and in the saliva of ticks.

哺乳动物的肉和蜱虫的唾液中存在一种名为α-半乳糖的糖。

When the sugar enters the body through the skin, the body's own defense, or immune, system reacts too strongly.

当α-半乳糖通过皮肤进入人体时，人体自身的防御（即免疫）系统反应过于强烈。

Scientists saw such reactions in patients taking a cancer drug that was made in mouse cells containing the alpha-gal sugar.

科学家在服用一种抗癌药物的患者身上看到了这种反应，这种药物是在含有α-半乳糖的老鼠细胞中制造的。

But in 2011 researchers first reported that it could spread through tick bites, too.

但在2011年，研究人员首次报告称，它也可以通过蜱虫叮咬传播。

They tied it to the lone star tick.

他们把它和美洲花蜱联系起来。

Scientists say the ticks live mainly in the eastern and southern U.S.

科学家表示，这种蜱虫主要生活在美国东部和南部。

One of the studies released recently examined test results from the main U.S. private laboratory looking for alpha-gal antibodies.

最近公布的一项研究检查了美国主要私人实验室寻找α-半乳糖抗体的测试结果。

Those tests showed the number of people who had the antibodies rose from about 13,000 in 2017 to 19,000 in 2022.

这些测试显示，携带抗体的人数从2017年的约1.3万人增加到2022年的1.9万人。

Experts say cases may have increased for several reasons.

专家表示，病例数增加可能有几个原因。

They say the lone star tick population is expanding.

他们说，美洲花蜱的数量正在增加。

They also suggest more doctors might be learning about the disease and ordering tests for it.

他们还表示，可能会有更多的医生了解这种疾病，并对其进行测试。

But many doctors are not.

但许多医生并非如此。

The second study was based on a survey last year of 1,500 U.S. general care doctors and health professionals.

第二项研究是基于去年对1500名美国普通护理医生和卫生专业人员的调查进行的。

It found nearly half of them had never heard of alpha-gal syndrome, and only five percent said they felt very sure they could identify it.

它发现，其中近一半的人从未听说过α-半乳糖综合征，只有5%的人表示，他们非常确定自己能识别出这种疾病。

Researchers used that information to estimate the number of people with the allergy — 450,000.

研究人员利用这些信息估计了红肉过敏患者的数量为45万人。

People with this condition can experience symptoms including hives, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, difficulty breathing, and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue or eyes.

患有这种疾病的人可能会出现荨麻疹、恶心、呕吐、腹泻、剧烈胃痛、呼吸困难以及嘴唇、喉咙、舌头或眼睛肿胀等症状。

Unlike some other food allergies, which happen soon after eating, these reactions hit hours later.

食用其他一些食物过敏时症状会在进食后不久出现，而这些反应在几个小时后才会发生。

Some patients have only stomach symptoms.

一些患者只有胃部症状。

The American Gastroenterological Association says people with unexplained diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain should be tested for the syndrome.

美国胃肠病学会表示，有不明原因的腹泻、恶心和胃痛的人应该检测是否患有这种综合征。

Doctors advise people with the allergy to stop eating meat and other foods that cause the reaction and to have epinephrine available to them at all times.

医生建议过敏患者停止食用肉类和其他引起过敏反应的食物，并随时准备注射肾上腺素。

And, doctors say, avoid tick bites.

医生还说，要避免被蜱虫叮咬。

The allergy can go away in some people.

有些人的过敏症状可能会消失。

Commins said he has seen that happen in about 15 to 20 percent of his patients.

康明斯说，他在大约15%到20%的患者身上看到过这种情况。

Staying free of tick bites is extremely important.

避免被蜱虫叮咬是极其重要的。

"The tick bites are central to this. They perpetuate the allergy," he said.

他说：“蜱虫叮咬是这种疾病的核心。它们会使过敏症状持续存在。”

One of his patients is Heller-Greenman, a 78-year-old art historian in New York.

他的病人之一是纽约78岁的艺术史学家海勒-格林曼。

She spends summers on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

她在马萨诸塞州的玛莎葡萄园岛度过夏天。

She said she is used to getting bitten by ticks on the island.

她说，她已经习惯了在岛上被蜱虫叮咬。

She has had Lyme disease, also caused by tick bites, four times.

她患过四次莱姆病，也是由蜱虫叮咬引起的。

About five years ago, Heller-Greenman started experiencing terrible, itchy hives on her back, middle and legs in the middle of the night.

大约五年前，海勒-格林曼开始发现自己的背部、身体中部和双腿上在半夜出现可怕的发痒的荨麻疹。

Her doctors decided it was an allergic reaction but could not identify the cause.

她的医生认为这是过敏反应，但无法确定原因。

She never ate a lot of meat, but one day in January 2020 she had two beef meals in a row.

她从来不吃很多肉，但2020年1月的一天，她连续吃了两顿牛肉。

Six hours after eating the second, she woke up nauseated, then vomited, had diarrhea and a lack of balance, or dizziness.

食用第二顿牛肉六个小时后，她醒来后感到恶心，然后呕吐，腹泻，身体失去平衡（即头晕）。

She passed out three times.

她昏倒了三次。

Doctors identified alpha-gal syndrome as the cause soon after the incident.

医生在该事故发生后不久就确定了她患有α-半乳糖综合征。

Heller-Greenman was told to avoid ticks and to stop eating red meat and milk products.

海勒-格林曼被告知避免蜱虫，并停止食用红肉和奶制品。

There have been no allergic reactions since.

从那以后就没有过敏反应了。

"I have one grandchild that watches me like a hawk," she said, making sure she reads food labels and avoids foods that could cause a reaction.

“我有一个孙子，他像鹰一样盯着我，”她说，她一定要阅读食品标签，避免吃可能会引起过敏反应的食物。

"I feel very lucky, really, that this has worked out for me," she said.

她说：“我感到非常幸运，这对我来说很有效”。

"Not all doctors are knowledgeable about this."

“并不是所有的医生都了解这一点。”

I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Caty Weaver.

安德鲁·史密斯、凯蒂·韦弗为您共同播报。