Allergic reactions to red meat are relatively uncommon and responsible for approximately 3% of all food allergies. 1 Recently, a new syndrome has been described in which delayed onset of anaphylaxis occurs 3 to 6 hours after mammalian meat consumption. This reaction is associated with IgE antibodies directed against oligosaccharides galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal). 2 Following this finding it was concluded that some patients previously diagnosed with “spontaneous” or “idiopathic” anaphylaxis may have had delayed anaphylaxis to red meat that was not immediately recognized because of the significant delay between the exposure to meat and the appearance of symptoms. 3 Although avoidance is the main treatment option for food allergies, it can cause difficulties especially in children who are allergic to common foods. 4,5 For that reason, food immunotherapy trials have been undertaken with children to selected foods, such as milk and peanuts. 6 Since the avoidance of beef or lamb is not difficult for adults, desensitization has not been commonly considered as an option for “red meat” cases.7 Here, we present 2 cases of delayed-onset red meat allergy that were successfully desensitized to beef.

Full Paper - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2016.12.008