Transmitted via ticks: the alpha-gal syndrome

Carmen Lobitz
Photography of a tick
Castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus) © Michael/stock.adobe.com
Newsletter­anmeldung

Bleiben Sie auf dem Laufenden. Der MT-Dialog-Newsletter informiert Sie jede Woche kostenfrei über die wichtigsten Branchen-News, aktuelle Themen und die neusten Stellenangebote.


Spring is here, and people are returning to the Great Outdoors. But this can also have a downside. We may come into contact with organisms that can harm us. It is well known that tick bites can transmit diseases such as TBE or Lyme disease, but very few people know of the alpha-gal syndrome (AGS).

Since 2010, more than 100,000 cases of AGS have been reported in the US. This unusual allergy sometimes causes severe symptoms that appear within a few hours of eating meat. It is triggered by a tick bite. But how can a tick bite lead to such a severe meat allergy? And does this phenomenon, which is mainly known in North America, also occur in Germany and other parts of the world?

What causes the alpha-gal syndrome?

While most allergens are specific proteins, the allergic reaction seen in AGS is directed against the sugar molecule galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, abbreviated: alpha-gal. The body will have formed specific immunoglobulins (sIgE) against alpha-gal after previous contact. The sensitization of the immune system to the sugar causes an allergic reaction upon renewed contact…

Online-Angebot der MT im Dialog

Um das Online-Angebot der MT im Dialog uneingeschränkt nutzen zu können, müssen Sie sich einmalig mit Ihrer DVTA-Mitglieds- oder Abonnentennummer registrieren.

Stellen- und Rubrikenmarkt

Möchten Sie eine Anzeige in der MT im Dialog schalten?

Stellenmarkt
Industrieanzeige