How It Happens
Alpha-Gal Syndrome is an allergy to most red meats and dairy products. It is due to an immune reaction to a sugar substance found in these foods (but not normally present in the human body) called alpha-gal (galactose-α-1, 3-galactose).
People get sensitized to this compound when it bypasses the normal digestive process and is introduced directly into the bloodstream.
In years past, this would happen most frequently when a tick that previously bit a mammal (such as a deer, cow, etc) then attached itself to a human and transferred minute amounts of alpha-galactose into that person's bloodstream. More recently, it is probably most often introduced by injection (i.e., a 'vaccine').
The immune system judges it to be a foreign invader and creates antibodies to attack it. This substance is remembered, and the next exposure, even by ingestion, creates an immediate reaction that can be very serious, even deadly.
