A man in the United States has become the first recorded fatality due to an allergic reaction to meat linked to Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that AGS affects up to 450,000 individuals across the US.
In a related case, a woman claims she had to adopt a vegan diet ‘against her will’ following her AGS diagnosis.
A New Jersey airline pilot, who was unaware of his AGS condition, became unresponsive and passed away after consuming a hamburger. The 47-year-old had previously experienced a severe reaction after eating steak the previous year.
According to a study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the man suffered from ‘abdominal discomfort, which became so severe that he was writhing in pain, having diarrhea and vomiting’.
During this episode, he mentioned to one of his sons, ‘I thought I was going to die’, but his condition improved the next day.
Two weeks later, after attending a barbecue where he ate a hamburger at 3pm, he felt well enough to do chores like mowing the lawn and reading the paper.
However, at 7.37pm, an ambulance was called when he was discovered unconscious on the bathroom floor, surrounded by vomit. Despite resuscitation efforts lasting over two hours, he was pronounced dead at 10.22pm.
Initially, his death was categorized as ‘sudden unexpected death’, but subsequent testing, pushed for by his wife, revealed that AGS had triggered an allergic reaction.
Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, an allergist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine who diagnosed the condition, told NBC News: “The tragedy is that they didn’t think of that episode as anaphylaxis, and therefore didn’t connect it to the beef at the time.”
AGS results in allergic reactions to red meat, including beef, pork, or lamb and can also trigger reactions to mammal-derived products like dairy or gelatin.
The onset of this condition is typically linked to a bite from the lone star tick in the US.
Dr. Scott Commins, an allergy and immunology expert at the University of North Carolina Department of Medicine in Chapel Hill, explained to NBC that a ‘large and increasing’ portion of the US population is encountering this tick as it migrates northward, facilitated by growing deer populations in many states.
He highlighted that two significant risk factors for severe AGS reactions are exercise and alcohol consumption.
Both factors can increase the absorption of food allergens in the body.
It was noted that the pilot had engaged in exercise and consumed a beer on the day of his death.
Dr. Commins mentioned that AGS is not necessarily permanent.
“It’s possible, through tick bite avoidance, that after three to four, maybe five years, it’ll fade,” he stated.
The CDC outlines that AGS symptoms can vary in intensity among different individuals.
Symptoms may manifest between two and six hours after eating meat or dairy products.
Reactions can include hives or itchy rashes, nausea or vomiting, severe stomach pain, and diarrhea.
AGS may also lead to heartburn or indigestion, coughing, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.
Drops in blood pressure, dizziness, faintness, and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or eyelids can also occur.
The CDC identifies a combination of these symptoms as anaphylaxis.