Allergies, Author Interviews, CDC, Environmental Risks / 04.08.2023
Life-Threatening Meat Allergy Transmitted by Lone Star Tick
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ann Carpenter DVM, MPH
Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Primary author of the recent CDC MMWR report.
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Lone Star Tick Nymph-CDC image[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly describe Alpha-gal Syndrome?
Response: Alpha-gal syndrome is an emerging and potentially life-threatening allergic condition that is associated with a tick bite. It is also called alpha-gal allergy, red meat allergy, or tick bite meat allergy.
Increasing case studies and anecdotal reports suggested that AGS was a growing concern, but, prior to these studies, information on clinician awareness and the number of people impacted was not available at a national level.
Lone Star Tick Nymph-CDC image[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly describe Alpha-gal Syndrome?
Response: Alpha-gal syndrome is an emerging and potentially life-threatening allergic condition that is associated with a tick bite. It is also called alpha-gal allergy, red meat allergy, or tick bite meat allergy.
Increasing case studies and anecdotal reports suggested that AGS was a growing concern, but, prior to these studies, information on clinician awareness and the number of people impacted was not available at a national level.
Dr. O'Donnell[/caption]
Julie O’Donnell, PhD MPH
Division of Overdose Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
CDC
National Network of Public Health Institutes
New Orleans, Louisiana
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The estimated number of drug overdose deaths in the US surpassed 100,000 over a 12-month period for the first time during May 2020-April 2021, driven by the involvement of synthetic opioids other than methadone (mainly illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF)), according to data from the National Vital Statistics System.
The State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) is a CDC-funded surveillance program that has collected detailed data on unintentional and undetermined intent drug overdose deaths since 2016 from death certificates, medical examiner and coroner reports, and full postmortem toxicology reports. SUDORS data allow for the analysis specifically of deaths involving fentanyl (rather than the larger category of synthetic opioids), and contain information about decedent demographics and other characteristics, as well as circumstances surrounding the overdose that might help inform prevention.
CDC PHIL image[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This report reviewed three measures of tooth loss among adults over 50 years old with selected chronic conditions. The report analyzed data from the 2011–2016 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to compare the rates of total tooth loss, severe tooth loss (less than 8 teeth), and lacking functional dentition (less than 20 teeth) among people with and without selected chronic conditions.
