The pigeon tick Argas reflexus is a temporary parasite of pigeons that are common in these birds. pigeon tick Argas reflexus bites during night hours and lies briefly on its prey, as long as it takes the blood meal which is its primary source of nutrition. When pigeon tick Argas reflexus does not find pigeons they are forced by hunger to look for other hosts, invading nearby flats and biting humans.

The case under study in this research was of a woman aged 46 years who experienced severe anaphylaxis during the night. The intensity was so high that she required emergency medical treatment, tracheal intubation, and hospitalization in the intensive care unit. Kounis syndrome was documented by transient ST depression and elevation of troponin. When questioned about the presence of ticks, the patient brought into view various specimens of ticks that were recognized by an entomologist as Argas reflexus.

The study concluded that in vitro diagnosis of allergy to Argas reflexus is currently not feasible because, though the major allergen Arg r 1 has been isolated, allergen extracts are not commercially available.

Reference: https://clinicalmolecularallergy.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12948-020-00121-w

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