VOA健康报道2023--Studies: Meat Sickness from Tick Bites Getting More Common

Studies: Meat Sickness from Tick Bites Getting More Common

More than 100,000 people in the United States have become allergic¹ to red meat since 2010 in reaction to tick bites, the government reports.

Medical researchers say they believe many more people have the allergy² and do not know it.

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

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

One report estimated that as many as 450,000 Americans have developed the meat allergy. That would make it the 10th most common food allergy in the U.S., said Dr. Scott Commins. The University of North Carolina researcher co-wrote both reports.

Health officials said they do not know of any confirmed deaths. However, people with the allergy have described it as strange and terrifying.

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

The reaction, called alpha-gal syndrome³, happens when an infected person eats beef, pork, or other meat of mammals. Taking in other mammal products, such as milk, also causes the reaction.

A sugar called alpha-gal exists in mammal meat and in the saliva⁴ of ticks. When the sugar enters the body through the skin, the body's own defense⁵, or immune, system reacts too strongly.

Scientists saw such reactions in patients taking a cancer drug that was made in mouse cells containing the alpha-gal sugar. But in 2011 researchers first reported that it could spread through tick bites, too.

They tied it to the lone⁶ star tick. Scientists say the ticks live mainly in the eastern and southern U.S.

One of the studies released recently examined test results from the main U.S. private laboratory looking for alpha-gal antibodies. Those tests showed the number of people who had the antibodies rose from about 13,000 in 2017 to 19,000 in 2022.

Experts say cases may have increased for several reasons. They say the lone star tick population is expanding. They also suggest more doctors might be learning about the disease and ordering tests for it.

But many doctors are not.

The second study was based on a survey last year of 1,500 U.S. general care doctors and health professionals. 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. Researchers used that information to estimate the number of people with the allergy — 450,000.

People with this condition can experience symptoms including hives, nausea⁷, vomiting⁸, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, difficulty breathing, and swelling⁹ of the lips, throat, tongue or eyes. Unlike some other food allergies¹⁰, which happen soon after eating, these reactions hit hours later.

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

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. And, doctors say, avoid tick bites.

The allergy can go away in some people. Commins said he has seen that happen in about 15 to 20 percent of his patients. Staying free of tick bites is extremely important.

"The tick bites are central to this. They perpetuate¹¹ the allergy," he said.

One of his patients is Heller-Greenman, a 78-year-old art historian in New York. She spends summers on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. She said she is used to getting bitten by ticks on the island. She has had Lyme disease, also caused by tick bites, four times.

About five years ago, Heller-Greenman started experiencing terrible, itchy hives on her back, middle and legs in the middle of the night. Her doctors decided¹² it was an allergic reaction but could not identify the cause.

She never ate a lot of meat, but one day in January 2020 she had two beef meals in a row. Six hours after eating the second, she woke up nauseated¹³, then vomited¹⁴, had diarrhea and a lack of balance, or dizziness. She passed out three times.

Doctors identified alpha-gal syndrome as the cause soon after the incident. Heller-Greenman was told to avoid ticks and to stop eating red meat and milk products. There have been no allergic reactions since.

"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.

"I feel very lucky, really, that this has worked out for me," she said. "Not all doctors are knowledgeable¹⁵ about this."

Words in This Story

saliva — n. fluid from the mouth

survey — n. a kind of study in which people are asked question to find something out about a subject

symptom — n. a sign that disease is present

hives — n. (pl.) a condition when the skin becomes red, swollen¹⁶, and itchy

nausea — n. a feeling of sickness in the stomach

vomiting –n. to expel the food in your stomach out of your mouth

pass out –v. (phrasal) to lose consciousness

perpetuate –v. to cause something (that should be stopped) to continue

label –n. a piece of paper on a product that has information about that product for people who want to know more about it

1 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

2 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

3 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

4 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

7 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

8 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

9 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

10 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

11 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 nauseated   

adj.作呕的，厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I was nauseated by the violence in the movie. 影片中的暴力场面让我感到恶心。
• But I have chewed it all well and I am not nauseated. 然而我把它全细细咀嚼后吃下去了，没有恶心作呕。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海

14 vomited   

参考例句：

• Corbett leaned against the wall and promptly vomited. 科比特倚在墙边，马上呕吐了起来。
• She leant forward and vomited copiously on the floor. 她向前一俯，哇的一声吐了一地。 来自英汉文学

15 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

16 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。