A tick bite can make meat allergic
Baby-boom chez les tiques
In Switzerland, there are about twenty species of ticks and they are doing pretty well, thank you!Their predilection places are the undergrowth, essentially the forest edges and the edges of trails, where they stand in ambush less than 1.5 meters from the ground.
They are at the cleat as soon as spring arrives, with a peak of activity in May.And the more gentle the winters, the more they proliferate.Global warming therefore helps their business.Ticks are currently progressing approximately 50 kilometers per year to the north, helped by migratory birds.We would therefore find more and more in countries like Canada, for example.In addition, they venture to colonize ever higher mountains - up to 2000 meters above sea level in Switzerland.According to the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), in Lyon, all this confirms the progression of ticks due to climate change.
We knew the allergy to pollen, glucose, glucose, here is meat allergy.Since 2009, thousands of people around the world have arrived in the emergency room after eating meat.This disease was first observed in the United States, then in Australia, France and finally in Switzerland, where a few cases have already been recorded since 2017.More than 17 countries are said to be affected on five continents.
But it took several years to identify the cause of this emerging disease: ticks.Doctors started by making the link between certain violent allergic reactions and ingestion of meat.By questioning the patients, they then learned that more than 80% of them had been bitten some time before by a tick.Interestingly, they lived in regions corresponding to infestation areas by these mites.Finally, tests have revealed the abnormal presence, in the blood of patients, antibodies (i.e. proteins secreted by the immune system to protect themselves against an assault) of IgE type.However, these antibodies attack specifically on alpha-ga, a sweet compound but which can be found in mammalia meats, with the exception of certain primates of which we are part.
A disease that extends in Europe
The explanation was therefore simple: ticks convey alpha-ga molecules from animals they have bitten-cows, sheep, etc..When they attack us, they can send us, via their saliva, a quantity of alpha-ga, hence an awareness of our body and therefore a risk of allergy during the following exhibitions.Our body will indeed consider this molecule as a foreign body.For reasons which are not yet well elucidated, in some individuals the immune reaction is so strong that the only way to avoid redoing an allergy to meat is to give up consuming it.
Until around 2009, we believed the phenomenon limited to the United States.The most widespread tick in the country, baptized Lone Star, because of its starry form and its single lifestyle, had been found guilty.
But then, similar allergy cases were reported in Australia, then in Europe, in countries where Lone Star has never taken up residence, such as Spain, Germany and Sweden, according to the National Center ofReference for diseases transmitted by ticks (CNRT), based in Spiez.Other species of ticks are therefore involved.In this case, Holocyclus IXDES in Australia and Ricinus IXDES in Europe."It seems that meat allergy is not due to a species of particular tick, but to a sugar, the alpha-far which is quite common in ticks and which probably changed very little during theEvolution, ”explains Professor Philippe Eigenmann, assistant doctor associated and responsible for the pediatric allergology unit of the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG)."There are reasons to think that the number of cases will progress in Europe, especially because of the softening of temperatures," he added.
Allergy can be declared at any age and focus on a wide range of meats: beef, pork, horse, lamb, sheep, game, horse, rabbit, etc..Symptoms are most often gastrointestinal manifestations such as digestive pain, diarrhea and vomiting.But the clinical picture may include hives, itching with possibly rashes, swelling (especially in the face), as well as dizziness and dizziness.
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A risk of repeated allergies
The progress of cases reported in scientific journals is invariable.First of all, the person gets bitten by a tick.The incident seems trivial to him.But a few days, weeks or months later, she eats a piece of meat, without suspecting that this time, digestion will not be fine.Symptoms appear about three to six hours after the meal."For a hypersensitivity reaction, it is unusually long," remarks Philippe Eigenmann.Most common food allergies (peanuts, crustaceans, for example), manifest themselves within half an hour following the exhibition.This delayed effect suggests a reaction in connection with the absorption of animal fats in the intestine.
Above all, the fact that he can flow for several weeks between a tick bite and a sudden allergic reaction complicates the diagnosis, because it is not easy to make the connection.However, as long as the problem has not been identified, there is a risk of repeated allergies.Some specialists also believe that the disease remains so little known that it is underdiagnosed.Thus, researchers from the University of Virginia have listed around 4,000 cases in the United States, but, by their own admission, it could actually be more than double.
There is no curative treatment, but specific drugs are administered against allergic (histaminic) reactions and the symptoms then usually disappear in less than two hours.We also have effective blood tests.Then remains to change your diet to finally solve the problem.The best is obviously to avoid being bitten by a tick.For this, we advise to wear clothes covering during walks in the forest, to carefully examine the entire surface of your body once you return home and to remove the ticks as quickly as possible that would have had time to fix onthe skin.You can also spray your clothes with insectifugal sprays.
Un vaccin et des antibiotiques
In Switzerland, the two main pathologies transmitted by ticks remain borreliosis and meningoencephalitis with ticks.Also called Lyme disease, borreliosis affects the skin, joints and, more rarely, the heart.She can cure herself with antibiotics, but sometimes leads to infirmities if she is not or badly treated.
Meningoencephalitis with ticks (encephalitis being an inflammation of the brain) generally evolves in two phases, with first symptoms recalling the flu, followed by neurological disorders (headache, sensitivity to light, dizziness, etc..) There is no specific treatment, but a vaccine is available in Switzerland.It is recommended to all people who live or stay in regions at risk.
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Published in the morning Sunday on 06/21/2020.
