Instructors

Onyinye I. Iweala, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Allergy Mast Cell Disorders Program
University of North Carolina 

Jennifer Platt, DrPH
Co-Founder and Director of Tick-borne Conditions United
Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health

Description

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is an increasingly recognized tick-associated allergic condition in the United States and around the world. In this Q&A, Dr. Onyinye I. Iweala, Director of the Allergy Mast Cell Disorders Program at UNC, joins Dr. Jennifer L. Platt, Co-Founder and Director of Tick-borne Conditions United and Adjunct Professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Building on VectorWise CME's course by Scott Commins, MD, PhD, the conversation explores practical questions surrounding alpha-gal syndrome, including its presentation, diagnosis, management, and the challenges patients and clinicians encounter in navigating this complex condition.

Learning Objectives

1. Recognize symptoms of Alpha-gal
2. Understand common misconceptions and questions that providers and patients have about Alpha-gal
   
   

Accreditation Statement

Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending.

Evidence-based bibliography for further study

-       Sharma SR, et al. Identification of Alpha-Gal glycolipids in saliva of Lone-Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum). Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2024;15:102384. PMID: 39053323.

-       Jensen L, Ushinsky A. Management of Acute Hemorrhage without the Use of Mammalian Products in a Patient with Alpha-Gal Syndrome. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2024;35:1242-1244. PMID: 38704138.

-       Leder J, et al. Perioperative Considerations in Alpha-Gal Syndrome: A Review. Cureus. 2024 30;16:e53208. PMID: 38425598; PMCID: PMC10902671.

-       Sharma SR, et al. Tick bite-induced alpha-gal syndrome and immunologic responses in an alpha-gal deficient murine model. Front Immunol. 2024 8;14:1336883. PMID: 38390396; PMCID: PMC10882631.

-       Taylor ML, et al. Intrinsic risk factors for alpha-gal syndrome in a case-control study, 2019 to 2020. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2024;132:759-764. PMID: 38341029; PMCID: PMC11318600.

-       Carpenter A, et al. Health Care Provider Knowledge Regarding Alpha-gal Syndrome - United States, March-May 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023;72:809-814. PMID: 37498792; PMCID: PMC10390085.

-       Kersh GJ, et al. Tick bite as a risk factor for alpha-gal-specific immunoglobulin E antibodies and development of alpha-gal syndrome. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2023;130:472-478. PMID: 36574585; PMCID: PMC10148555.

-       Binder AM, et al. Clinical and laboratory features of patients diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome-2010-2019. Allergy. 2023;78:477-487. PMID: 36178236; PMCID: PMC10092820.

-       McGill SK, Richards RD Jr, Commins SP. Suddenly Steakless: A Gastroenterologist's Guide to Managing Alpha-Gal Allergy. Am J Gastroenterol. 2022;117:822-826. PMID: 35404302.

-       Houchens N, et al. Hunting for a Diagnosis. N Engl J Med. 2021;384:462-467. PMID: 33534979; PMCID: PMC9306225.

-       Binder AM, et al. Diagnostic testing for galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, United States, 2010 to 2018. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2021;126:411-416. PMID: 33422649; PMCID: PMC10961706.

-       Commins SP. Diagnosis & management of alpha-gal syndrome: lessons from 2,500 patients. Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2020;16:667-677. PMID: 32571129; PMCID: PMC8344025.

About the Instructor

Onyinye I. Iweala, MD, PhD

Onyinye I. Iweala, M.D., Ph.D. is an allergist and immunologist certified by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology Allergy, and Immunology at the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill.  As part of the UNC Food Allergy Initiative, she studies the immunologic mechanisms behind alpha-gal mammalian meat allergy.  She has presented her work at several national meetings.

Dr. Iweala received her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from Harvard University and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a clinical and research fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at UNC-Chapel Hill.

About the Instructor

Jennifer Platt, DrPH

Dr. Jennifer Platt received her DrPH from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2012. She has nearly three decades of leadership practice in policy and program development, implementation and evaluation; her domestic and international experience spans local, state and federal levels of government as well as the private and nonprofit sectors. She specializes in using systems thinking approaches to solve complex problems.

After finishing her doctorate in 2012, Dr. Platt’s personal experience with tick-borne illness led her to create TickWarriors in 2016, which provides eco-friendly tick protection for people, pets and property. The pervasive need for education, research and advocacy led Dr. Platt to co-found the nonprofit Tick-borne Conditions United (TBCU) in 2018. TBCU strives to bridge the gap between patients and emerging science and education for health care providers and the public regarding lesser-known tick-borne conditions such as alpha-gal syndrome, the potentially fatal allergy to mammal products caused by a tick bite.