When patients began showing up at hospitals with allergic reactions they believed were caused by meat, doctors were quick to dismiss their theories. But patients living in the South who were exposed to a cancer drug containing alpha-gal, a carbohydrate found in beef, pork and lamb, had similar responses.
Dr. Scott Commins and his colleagues set out to investigate why people were developing allergic responses to alpha-gal, and why geography seemed to be playing a role. The team’s public health sleuthing allowed it to identify a connection between the sudden meat allergy and certain tick bites.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Scott Commins, physician in the University of North Carolina’s Allergy and Immunology Clinic, about how he continues to piece together the puzzle of meat allergies.
Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
