Non-infectious illness after tick bite

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles H Beaman
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Complications ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
Tick Bites ◽  
Meat Allergy ◽  
Infectious Illness ◽  
Local Reactions ◽  
Mammalian Meat ◽  
Tick Paralysis

Tick bites are common and may have non-infectious complications. Reactions range from local reactions to systemic syndromes, tick paralysis, mammalian meat allergy and tick anaphylaxis. Management revolves around prevention with vector avoidance and immediate removal of the tick if bitten. Treatment of bite reactions is usually symptomatic only with anti-histamines or corticosteroids. Adrenaline may be indicated for severe cases.

Mammalian meat allergy emerges after tick bite: the alpha-gal syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. e245488
Author(s):  
Ellery Altshuler ◽  
Jesse Krikpatrick ◽  
Mahmoud Aryan ◽  
Frank Miralles
Keyword(s):  
Hypersensitivity Reaction ◽  
Heart Valves ◽  
Symptom Burden ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
Tick Bites ◽  
Meat Allergy ◽  
Physician Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
Clinical Environments ◽  
Mammalian Meat

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a hypersensitivity reaction to mammalian meat that develops after tick bite exposure. AGS was first described in 2009 and testing for the allergy has become available in the last decade. We report the case of a 56-year-old farmer with a history of frequent lone star tick bites who presented with a 7-year history of diffuse urticaria occurring hours after eating red meat. AGS is likely underdiagnosed because of the unusual presentation of the allergy, historic lack of available testing, and deficiency of physician knowledge about the condition. Recognition of AGS is important both to help alleviate symptom burden and to avoid iatrogenesis. Patients with AGS should not receive products containing mammalian products, such as cat-gut suture, porcine-derived heart valves, and bovine-derived vaccines. Patients with AGS may present in a variety of clinical environments and physicians of all kinds should be able to recognise the symptoms.

scholarly journals Tick Bites Induce Anti-α-Gal Antibodies in Dogs

Vaccines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Hodžić ◽  
Lourdes Mateos-Hernández ◽  
Michael Leschnik ◽  
Pilar Alberdi ◽  
Ryan Rego ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Tick Bites ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Meat Allergy ◽  
Organ Rejection ◽  
Specific Igg ◽  
Functional Inactivation ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Mammalian Meat ◽  
Pathogenic Agents

Due to the functional inactivation of the gene encoding for the enzyme that is involved in the oligosaccharide galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal) synthesis, humans and Old-World primates are able to produce a large amount of antibodies against the glycan epitope. Apart from being involved in the hyperacute organ rejection in humans, anti-α-Gal antibodies have shown a protective effect against some pathogenic agents and an implication in the recently recognized tick-induced mammalian meat allergy. Conversely, non-primate mammals, including dogs, have the ability to synthetize α-Gal and, thus, their immune system is not expected to naturally generate the antibodies toward this self-antigen molecule. However, in the current study, we detected specific IgG, IgM, and IgE antibodies to α-Gal in sera of clinically healthy dogs by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the first time. Furthermore, in a tick infestation experiment, we showed that bites of Ixodes ricinus induce the immune response to α-Gal in dogs and that the resulting antibodies (IgM) might be protective against Anaplasma phagocytophilum. These findings may help lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in mammalian meat allergy and tick-host-pathogen interactions, but they also open up the question about the possibility that dogs could develop an allergy to mammalian meat after tick bites, similar to that in humans.

scholarly journals Could chiggers be contributing to the prevalence of galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose sensitization and mammalian meat allergy?

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 664-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey P. Stoltz ◽  
Leslie M. Cristiano ◽  
Ashley P.G. Dowling ◽  
Jeffrey M. Wilson ◽  
Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Meat Allergy ◽  
Mammalian Meat

scholarly journals Googling for Ticks and Borreliosis in Germany: Nationwide Google Search Analysis From 2015 to 2018 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cora Scheerer ◽  
Melvin Rüth ◽  
Linda Tizek ◽  
Martin Köberle ◽  
Tilo Biedermann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
German Population ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Tick Bites ◽  
Federal States ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Very High

BACKGROUND Borreliosis is the most frequently transmitted tick-borne disease in Europe. It is difficult to estimate the incidence of tick bites and associated diseases in the German population due to the lack of an obligation to register across all 16 federal states of Germany. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to show that Google data can be used to generate general trends of infectious diseases on the basis of borreliosis and tick bites. In addition, the possibility of using Google AdWord data to estimate incidences of infectious diseases, where there is inconsistency in the obligation to notify authorities, is investigated with the perspective to facilitate public health studies. METHODS Google AdWords Keyword Planner was used to identify search terms related to ticks and borreliosis in Germany from January 2015 to December 2018. The search volume data from the identified search terms was assessed using Excel version 15.23. In addition, SPSS version 24.0 was used to calculate the correlation between search volumes, registered cases, and temperature. RESULTS A total of 1999 tick-related and 542 borreliosis-related search terms were identified, with a total of 209,679,640 Google searches in all 16 German federal states in the period under review. The analysis showed a high correlation between temperature and borreliosis (<i>r</i>=0.88), and temperature and tick bite (<i>r</i>=0.83), and a very high correlation between borreliosis and tick bite (<i>r</i>=0.94). Furthermore, a high to very high correlation between Google searches and registered cases in each federal state was observed (Brandenburg <i>r</i>=0.80, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania <i>r</i>= 0.77, Saxony <i>r</i>= 0.74, and Saxony-Anhalt <i>r</i>=0.90; all <i>P</i>&lt;.001). CONCLUSIONS Our study provides insight into annual trends concerning interest in ticks and borreliosis that are relevant to the German population exemplary in the data of a large internet search engine. Public health studies collecting incidence data may benefit from the results indicating a significant correlation between internet search data and incidences of infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Recurring Anaphylaxis: A New Line of Questioning for your HPI

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-21
Author(s):  
Wahid Lana ◽  
◽  
Aziz Sameh ◽  
Abraham Christina ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Allergic Reaction ◽  
Unknown Etiology ◽  
Shortness Of Breath ◽  
Tick Bites ◽  
Ige Antibody ◽  
Delayed Onset ◽  
The Past ◽  
Delayed Anaphylaxis ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Mammalian Meat

Anaphylaxis is a serious life-threatening allergic reaction that typically has an immediate onset. It can present as flushing, angioedema, shortness of breath, rash and result in death if not treated immediately. In the past ten years, an emerging cause of delayed anaphylaxis has been identified. An IgE antibody to a mammalian oligosaccharide epitope (alpha-gal, or galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose) has been linked to both immediate and delayed onset anaphylaxis. The immediate form is associated with the first exposure to cetuximab; whereas the delayed onset occurs after ingestion of mammalian meat such as beef and pork. The presentation can develop 2-6 hours after ingestion. This IgE antibody to alpha-gal is strongly suggested that Lone Star tick bites have been the culprit. It is imperative when caring for an anaphylaxis patient of unknown etiology, to consider a line of questioning to not only include recent tick bites, but also last 2-3 meals ingested to identify if mammalian meat may have been the trigger.

scholarly journals Powassan Virus Encephalitis Following Brief Attachment of Connecticut Deer Ticks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry M Feder ◽  
Sam Telford ◽  
Heidi K Goethert ◽  
Gary P Wormser
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
Molecular Testing ◽  
Tick Bites ◽  
Epidemiologic Evidence ◽  
Powassan Virus ◽  
Tick Attachment ◽  
Virus Subtype

Abstract Background Powassan virus (POWV) is a tick-transmitted pathogen that may cause severe encephalitis; experimentally, it can be transmitted within just 15 minutes following a tick bite. The deer tick virus subtype of POWV (DTV) is transmitted by the deer tick and is the likely cause of the increase in the number of POWV cases reported in the United States. However, DTV has only been definitively documented in 6 patients by molecular analysis of the virus. Methods Two patients from Connecticut with encephalitis, who had a recent deer tick bite, were evaluated by the relevant serologic tests to determine if they had been infected with POWV. Evaluation also included molecular testing of an adult deer tick that had been removed from one of the patients. Results We documented neuroinvasive POWV infection in 2 children from Connecticut. Based on the results of testing the tick removed from case 2, this patient was infected by DTV, representing the 7th reported case and the first documented case of DTV infection in a child. Of note, the duration of the tick bites in both cases was very short. Conclusions We provide the first clinical and epidemiologic evidence that POWV/DTV can be rapidly transmitted to a human host, that is, within hours of tick attachment, which is distinctive when compared to other deer tick-transmitted infections such as Lyme disease.

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