The Medical journal of Australia
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Mammalian meat allergy after tick bites and tick anaphylaxis are the most serious tick-induced allergies. They are often severe, should be largely avoidable and offer fascinating insights into the development and prevention of allergies. Australian clinicians reported the first cases of tick anaphylaxis and discovered the association between tick bites and the development of mammalian meat allergy. ⋯ Exposures to α-gal-containing medications have proved lethal in a minority of people, and fatal tick anaphylaxis has been reported in Australia. Prevention of tick bites is prudent and practicable; killing the tick in situ is crucial to both primary and secondary prevention of allergic reactions. Mechanisms in the development of mammalian meat allergy constitute a paradigm for how allergies might arise.