Lone Star Tick Bite May Cause Beef Allergy

jthomas666 · Aug 19, 2014

clicky

Quite possibly the scariest thing I've read in a while.

Lone star tick bites are likely the cause of thousands of cases of severe red meat allergies that are plaguing patients in Southeastern states including Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia and spreading up the Eastern Seaboard along with the deer population.

Vanderbilt's Asthma, Sinus and Allergy Program (A.S.A.P.) clinic is seeing one or more new cases each week of patients allergic to the alpha-gal sugar present in red meat, according to Robert Valet, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine.

"It is not completely understood exactly how the allergy starts," Valet said. "The thought is that the tick has the alpha-gal sugar in its gut and introduces it as part of the allergic bite and that causes the production of the allergy antibody that then cross-reacts to the meat," he said.
Valet said the allergy can cause hives and swelling, as well as broader symptoms of anaphylaxis including vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing, and a drop in blood pressure.

RammerJammer14 · Aug 19, 2014

Goodness gracious. Forget Ebola, we need a cure for this before it is too late.

Catfish · Aug 19, 2014

RammerJammer14 said:
Goodness gracious. Forget Ebola, we need a cure for this before it is too late.

No kidding! No red meat? I'm not sure life would be worth living.

TIDE-HSV · Aug 19, 2014

I thought this had already made the rounds here, but then I don't always remember where I read something. These little beasts are also the main vector for Lyme disease in the southeast...

crimsonaudio · Aug 19, 2014

This is the single most terrifying thing I've ever read.

#noblue

bamachile · Aug 19, 2014

Pork. Just eat pork.

TIDE-HSV · Aug 19, 2014

bamachile said:
Pork. Just eat pork.

Sorry, but port has the sugar in it which sets off the allergic reaction. I hate ticks more than any other bug. (They're not a true "insect.") Our house is in three acres of woods and we literally have to watch each other's backs and scalps. Sometimes, I know when one has dropped on me, but occasionally, one will escape my attention and dig in...

bamachile · Aug 20, 2014

TIDE-HSV said:
Our house is in three acres of woods and we literally have to watch each other's backs and scalps. Sometimes, I know when one has dropped on me, but occasionally, one will escape my attention and dig in...

When I was a child, we would get sprayed down with Hot Shot's DDT solution before running off to play in the woods.

Worked o.k. on ticks, but we would still get one now and again. Nothing prevents chiggers, though. Nothing.

crimsonaudio · Aug 20, 2014

bamachile said:
Nothing prevents chiggers, though. Nothing.

Deep Woods Off does.

bamachile · Aug 20, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Deep Woods Off does.

Eau de Lousiane? It just may. DWO has the highest concentration of DEET you can get without buying Ben's 100 or some such. It makes me break out if I use it for several days, though. I've used countless dozens of cans while working in Fourchon, LA.

I'm not sure how much chemical difference exists between DDT and DEET, but I would suspect not much. Perhaps there's a chemist on board who could enlighten us.

crimsonaudio · Aug 20, 2014

bamachile said:
Eau de Lousiane? It just may. DWO has the highest concentration of DEET you can get without buying Ben's 100 or some such. It makes me break out if I use it for several days, though. I've used countless dozens of cans while working in Fourchon, LA.

I only wear if I absolutely have to, as the entire time it's on my skin it feels as if I'm fairly sunburned - the skin just feels hot. My body chemistry obviously doesn't like it, but it's more tolerable than being eaten alive...

DzynKingRTR · Aug 20, 2014

I used to take a medication for my asthma that kept all bugs away from me.

bamachile · Aug 20, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
I only wear if I absolutely have to, as the entire time it's on my skin it feels as if I'm fairly sunburned - the skin just feels hot. My body chemistry obviously doesn't like it, but it's more tolerable than being eaten alive...

That's the reaction I was speaking of when I said it makes me break out. It's obviously not a good long-term solution, but the mosquitos in certain areas of South Lousy-anna are pretty bad.

TideEngineer08 · Aug 20, 2014

I hate ticks.. just as I do their arachnid cousins, spiders. Frankly I hate most all bugs. I can't be outside after a certain time in the evening during the summer because I become the main target for the mosquito population in our area.

I know everything has its purpose, but I'm just not sure why God made ticks.

TIDE-HSV · Aug 20, 2014

TideEngineer08 said:
I hate ticks.. just as I do their arachnid cousins, spiders. Frankly I hate most all bugs. I can't be outside after a certain time in the evening during the summer because I become the main target for the mosquito population in our area.

I know everything has its purpose, but I'm just not sure why God made ticks.

You must share a metabolism with my wife, who can't even go to the mailbox. OTOH, they don't bother me unless they just blunder into me. Talking about skeeters, not ticks...

G-VilleTider · Aug 20, 2014

bamachile said:
Eau de Lousiane? It just may. DWO has the highest concentration of DEET you can get without buying Ben's 100 or some such. It makes me break out if I use it for several days, though. I've used countless dozens of cans while working in Fourchon, LA.

I'm not sure how much chemical difference exists between DDT and DEET, but I would suspect not much. Perhaps there's a chemist on board who could enlighten us.

When I was in AIT school (where you go after basic in the army), I had one of those plastic hanging shoe holders for the inside of my locker to hold toiletries etc. I had a bottle of 100% deet that I would use, then some spilled on the plastic and dissolved it. After that, it was only used to remove permanent marker from dry erase boards.

TheAccountant · Aug 20, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
I only wear if I absolutely have to, as the entire time it's on my skin it feels as if I'm fairly sunburned - the skin just feels hot. My body chemistry obviously doesn't like it, but it's more tolerable than being eaten alive...

I'm the same way. I've tried the "gentler" stuff before and the mosquitoes around my house just laugh at me before digging in. Again, like you, I'll cope with the hot skin.

twofbyc · Aug 20, 2014

bamachile said:
That's the reaction I was speaking of when I said it makes me break out. It's obviously not a good long-term solution, but the mosquitos in certain areas of South Lousy-anna are pretty bad.

I have watched them rise at dusk and almost block out the sunset in Dulac....almost got eaten alive in a phone booth at the Baroid dock in The Fourchon in the middle of winter, upper 30s and north wind blowing 25-35. Those suckers don't play.

bamachile · Aug 20, 2014

twofbyc said:
I have watched them rise at dusk and almost block out the sunset in Dulac....almost got eaten alive in a phone booth at the Baroid dock in The Fourchon in the middle of winter, upper 30s and north wind blowing 25-35. Those suckers don't play.

My company has bases at both locations.

TideEngineer08 · Aug 20, 2014

TIDE-HSV said:
You must share a metabolism with my wife, who can't even go to the mailbox. OTOH, they don't bother me unless they just blunder into me. Talking about skeeters, not ticks...

They don't bother my wife much at all, so I have wondered if it were something like metabolism. But yes, I can't even walk to my mailbox, which is probably 40 feet from my front door, without being bitten 8-10 times. Forget any sort of early evening yard work.

Lone Star Tick Bite May Cause Beef Allergy

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