To emphasise recent breakthroughs in our understanding of red meat allergy’s clinical characteristics, prevalence, and pathophysiology. Allergic reactions to red (i.e. mammalian) meat were previously thought to be uncommon, and had only been reported in young atopic children. It is now apparent that red meat allergy is not uncommon in different age groups in several regions of the world. Surprisingly, the vast majority of these cases are related to specific IgE antibodies to galactose-1,3-galactose, an oligosaccharide found in non primate mammals. The mechanism of sensitization in this disease is related to bites of specific hard ticks, and clinical symptoms are frequently delayed by 3 to 6 hours. Inhalant sensitivity to mammalian proteins is another type of red meat allergy. The best-known example concerns cat-sensitized patients with specific IgE to cat serum albumin who can respond to eaten pork due to cross-sensitization to pork serum albumin.
Red meat allergy is more widespread than previously thought, with at least three distinct kinds characterised by sensitization processes and distinct clinical and immunologic markers.
