Tag: Alpha-Gal

Woman in Pennsylvania diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome after tick bite

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Historic Lititz street with autumn trees, American flags, shops, church, library, and festival visitors

A Ross Township woman was diagnosed with a tick-borne disease that’s rare in southwestern Pennsylvania, but common in other parts of the country. Now, she wants to urge others to be more careful when outdoors.  Angela Lundy started feeling sick after she ate a bratwurst on Father’s Day. Then a week later, she split a burger with her husband. “I woke up with severe stomach pain like right along where my bra line is, and it lasted about three hours,” Lundy said.  However, her doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and testing for gallstones came back negative. “It wasn’t until my girlfriend half-jokingly said to me, ‘Well, maybe you have alpha-gal,'” Lundy said.

Everything started to click with Lundy, who remembered getting bitten by a tick behind her left knee in early June after working in her backyard garden. “It was the itchiest bite I had ever had,” Lundy said. She learned a tick infected her with alpha-gal syndrome after her doctor properly diagnosed her based on Lundy having both symptoms and positive blood test results. It’s a tick-borne disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said is potentially life-threatening and causes an allergy to mammal meats like beef, pork, venison, and could also cause intolerances to dairy and gelatin. “It’s mostly known to come from the lone star tick,” said Emily Struckhoff, program specialist with Penn State Extension.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health told KDKA that surveillance by the state Department of Environmental Protection now shows lone star ticks with white dots in several parts of the state, including southwestern counties, at low levels. However, the department added that “there is evidence that deer ticks … are also linked to [the syndrome].” “[Lone star ticks are] primarily a southern-associated species, but we have been seeing its range expand further north into southern Pa.,” Struckhoff said. The health department also said, “Recent voluntary reports show that about 300 people test positive for Alpha-Gal each year” in the state.

Now that includes Lundy, who just saw an allergist and is carrying an EpiPen, while taking extra precautions at restaurants and outside. “It’s not fun, but I think there’s like worse things,” Lundy said. This serves as a reminder that ticks are around year-round. Experts said the best steps you can take are wearing long sleeves and pants that you can tuck into your socks, and don’t forget to spray DEET or wash your clothes in permethrin, both of which can repel ticks.

Source: Woman in Pennsylvania diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome after tick bite – CBS Pittsburgh

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD, Than great treasure with trouble.
Proverbs 15:16

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ER Visits Surge and Experts Urge Caution amid Record Tick Season

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brown and black ticks on yellow flower

The current tick season is reported to be the worst in decades, with emergency room visits for bites and cases of Lyme disease increasing. According to the CDC, 71 out of every 100,000 emergency room visits were for tick bites, which is a 25% increase over last year. This figure excludes visits to urgent care facilities and doctors’ offices. Each year, about 500,000 Americans contract Lyme disease from tick bites, and a majority of people fully recover from the bacterial infection following earlier detection and proper treatment with antibiotics, CBN News reported. On the other hand, roughly 20 percent of these infections are elusive from early detection, resulting in severe joint pain, vision problems, neurological issues, hospitalization, and death.

“Definitely it’s a big year for ticks and a big year for tick-borne diseases,” Johns Hopkins infectious disease microbiologist Thomas M. Hart, PhD.  Hart, along with Johns Hopkins scientist Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD, is also warning of additional tick-borne diseases beyond Lyme disease. “I’m thinking about Babesiosis, an increasing disease of a small parasite that infects red blood cells and threatens the safety of our blood supply,” she said, “or Alpha-Gal syndrome, an allergic reaction to eating red meat.” Additional tick-borne diseases include: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Powassan Virus, Anaplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis, and Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever. According to experts, tick bite prevention recommendations include covering up in tall grass/wooded areas and tucking pants into socks. It is also recommended to use bug spray and wear light clothing.  “When you come inside from doing high-risk activities, so these are going to be things like hiking, golfing, gardening, do a thorough tick check, and then shower immediately to wash off any ticks that might have sort of caught a ride,” Hart said.

Source: ER Visits Surge and Experts Urge Caution amid Record Tick Season – Milton Quintanilla | Crosswalk.com

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Mark 16:16

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