A man living in New Jersey, United States, died due to an allergy to red meat, which he had never suffered from before. It was ‘alpha gal’ syndrome – as specialists later discovered in a post-mortem analysis – namely an anaphylactic allergic reaction to meat, caused by a tick bite.
Fleas inject the substance ‘alpha-gal’ through their bite, which is a sugar molecule found in most mammals: consumption of animal meat or offal can – in some cases – trigger a disproportionate immune reaction, leading to an uncontrollable and deadly allergic crisis. The case was revealed in an article in the Journal of Clinical Allergy and Immunology.
The wife of the 47-year-old airline pilot who died – although in good health – said her husband had been bitten by ticks or spiders several times over the summer.
His death occurred at the end of September: at a barbecue with friends, the man was eating a simple hamburger. Four hours later he was found unconscious on the bathroom floor. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
Analysis showed the presence of alpha-gal and an anaphylactic reaction occurred. Symptoms of this syndrome usually appear 2-4 hours after eating red meat and range from skin rashes to nausea, vomiting and worsening malaise.
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