MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jonathan R. Brestoff-Parker, MD, PhD
PSTP Resident, Clinical Pathology
Department of Pathology & Immunology
Washington University School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Red meat allergy is a recently recognized food allergy in which people experience a delayed allergic response about 3-6 hours after eating red meats that contain the allergen alpha-gal.
Red meat allergy is thought to be caused by tick bites which expose humans to alpha-gal, however other factors that contribute to disease risk are not well described. Alpha-gal looks a lot like the B antigen, which is one of the factors that determines blood type. So we wondered whether people with blood types B or AB are protected from getting red meat allergy. We were amazed when we found that patients who make the B antigen (blood types B or AB) are 5 times less likely to have red meat allergy than patients who do not make the B antigen (blood types O or A). (more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Meagan F. Vaughn, PhD
Postdoctoral Trainee
Department of Epidemiology
Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Vaughn: Outdoor workers are at high-risk for tick-borne diseases. Adherence to recommended tick-bite prevention methods is poor. While permethrin treatment of clothing is highly protective against many arthropod vectors, the need for frequent reapplication lessens adherence. A double-blind randomized intervention was conducted to determine the effectiveness of long-lasting permethrin-impregnated uniforms for tick bite prevention among outdoor workers from North Carolina. Treatment group uniforms were factory-impregnated with long-lasting permethrin by Insect Shield, while control group uniforms received sham treatment. Participants completed weekly tick bite logs during two tick seasons. 130 participants reported 1,045 work-related tick bites over 5,251 person-weeks of follow-up. The effectiveness of long-lasting permethrin impregnated uniforms for prevention of work-related tick bites was 82% (p<0.001) for the first year and 34% (p=0.38) for the second year. These results indicate that long-lasting permethrin impregnated uniforms are highly effective for at least one year against tick bites among North Carolina outdoor workers.
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