A new study from Dartmouth Health and the Geisel School of Medicine has found that patients with type O blood who have antibodies to alpha-gal can also develop severe allergic reactions to blood plasma or platelet transfusions when they receive those transfusions from type B or AB donors.
The study analyzed over 550,000 transfusions across five countries, and found the number of severe reactions occurred in places where alpha-gal syndrome cases are higher.
Alpha-gal syndrome is an allergic reaction to mammal products that can occur after a bite by a lone star tick. It can trigger anaphylaxis, hives and stomach pains in individuals that eat meat, like beef or pork, as well as dairy and gelatin.
In a press release, the researchers said Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center has stopped giving transfusions of B or AB platelets to type O patients.
“Even if it’s an abundance of caution, it could save the patient’s life,” said Dr. Anne Hoen, an author of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology at Geisel School of Medicine.
Especially in places where alpha-gal syndrome was being acquired often.
Massachusetts, where cases have been growing on Cape Cod and the Islands, has started monitoring and tracking cases of alpha-gal. Scientists attribute higher temperatures caused by climate change for increasing the lone star tick’s range. According to the UNH Cooperative Extension, lone star ticks are currently rarely seen in New Hampshire.
