Health

(FLORIDA) — Cases of leprosy are rising in Florida, according to a new analysis published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) journal.

Although the disease is still rare in the U.S. — with just 159 cases reported in 2020 — a study released Monday from the EID and shared by the CDC found that Central Florida accounts for a bulk of those cases.

Central Florida appears to have the highest concentration of cases in the Sunshine State, with the region accounting for nearly one-fifth of reported cases in the U.S.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a lingering infectious disease caused by the acid-fast rod Mycobacterium leprae. The disease mostly impacts the skin and the peripheral nervous system, according to the EID. Today, the disease is curable with antibiotics.

“Leprosy has been historically uncommon in the United States; incidence peaked around 1983, and a drastic reduction in the annual number of documented cases occurred from the 1980s through 2000,” the EID said in its report. “However, since then, reports demonstrate a gradual increase in the incidence of leprosy in the United States.”

Most of the cases from 2020 were from Florida, California, Louisiana, Hawaii, New York and Texas, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

In recent decades, cases have been from travelers coming to the U.S. Now, researchers are pointing out that roughly one-third of cases from 2015 to 2020 appear to have been acquired locally, suggesting the disease is being transmitted in the U.S., either from person-to-person or from contact with animals like armadillos.

In 2015, one Florida county reported an increase in leprosy cases, where three people were diagnosed with the disease in five months.

Barry Inman, an epidemiologist for the Brevard County Department of Health, previously told ABC News that some of those infections from 2015 came from people interacting with armadillos, a known carrier of the disease.

This story has been updated.

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(NEW YORK) — After several months of steady declines, COVID-19 hospitalizations appear to be ticking up again.

For the week ending July 22, hospitalizations rose 12% from the previous week from 7,165 to 8,035, according to data released Monday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While a double-digit percentage jump may seem scary, experts say these numbers are still among the lowest we have seen since the pandemic began and that there is no reason to panic just yet.

The 8,035 figure is the seventh lowest number of hospitalizations recorded since August 2020 — the earliest date for tracking weekly hospitalizations.

By comparison, weekly COVID hospitalizations during the peak of the omicron wave in January 2022 stood at 150,674, CDC data shows.

In the past few years, summer months have typically been accompanied by a bump in COVID cases. Experts say this time is different because previous increases involved a more infectious variant, such as delta or omicron, and less immunity from vaccines. This increase, however, doesn’t mean a wave is imminent.

“Everyone has to remember to take current data with a grain of salt,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. “There have always been challenges with surveillance like COVID, but that’s especially true right now, for a variety of reasons.”

This includes fewer resources being put toward COVID surveillance, less testing and people moving on from COVID.

“We have to be also very careful about interpreting changes in hospitalization data,” Brownstein, who is also an ABC News contributor, said. “Oftentimes, a percentage increase might seem scary, but when it’s off of small counts, the overall burden reflected will still be low in the population.”

He added, “Now, these could be signals of a worsening problem and so, from a public health standpoint, we should be looking at this data carefully to understand whether we might see a more significant way of the summer. But it’s not time yet to raise the alarm bells about COVID.”

The rise in hospitalizations was preceded by an increase in wastewater levels this past month across the country.

National wastewater levels containing traces of the virus have increased nearly 65% in the past month with the Northeast and South experiencing the highest levels.

Most health agencies are no longer tracking cases, which means it’s not clear how many Americans are really infected.

“Clearly the wastewater data is going up and we see it as a really good early signal,” Brownstein said. “But it could also reflect a lot of low acuity or even asymptomatic cases in the population, in which case, while it’s important, it may not be always a direct correlation with the true population burden of COVID.”

While wastewater signals community transmission and may serve as a strong proxy to determine how many people are infected with COVID, it comes with limitations, experts say.

Wastewater numbers may be impacted by variables like the number of samples, animal waste, or even rainwater and sometimes do not mirror case counts.

So far COVID deaths have not increased, with 494 deaths reported the week of July 1, the latest date for which data is available according to the CDC. This marks the lowest number reported since the start of pandemic.

This could always change because deaths are traditionally a lagging indicator.

Vaccine manufacturers have been developing booster shots targeting XBB.1.5, an offshoot of the omicron variant that was responsible for a majority of new cases in the past few months.

Health agencies are expected to provide guidance on the updated vaccines later this summer and the shots are slated to hit pharmacies in September.

“We don’t have a crystal ball exactly when it comes to COVID,” Brownstein said. “I think that all signs point to likely an increase in the fall as people come indoors. Now we’ll have a new booster so look for that guidance in September. Uptake in the vaccine booster will help to offset any consequences of any surge.”

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(NEW YORK) — Over 1.7 million women, nearly 3% of women of reproductive age in the United States, live in a county without access to abortion and with no access to maternity care, according to an analysis from ABC News and Boston Children’s Hospital. And 3.7 million, or 5.8% of women of reproductive age, live in a county without access to abortion and with no or low access to maternity care.

The data reflect an ongoing trend in maternal health in the U.S. found in previous research: places that restrict abortion also have fewer doctors providing care to pregnant people. Those states also have higher rates of maternal mortality and infant death, prior research shows.

“The same states that are most likely to be restrictive are also states that have been providing minimal services for a long time to women,” says Eugene Declercq, a professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, who studies maternal mortality.

ABC News compared new data from the March of Dimes on maternity care deserts in the U.S. with data, originally published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, on counties without access to abortion within a 60-minute drive since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in June of 2022.

The March of Dimes considers a county a maternity care desert if it does not have any obstetric providers and does not have any hospitals and birth centers offering obstetric care. It considers a county to have low access to maternity care if it has fewer than two hospitals or birth centers that offer obstetric care and fewer than 60 obstetric providers per 10,000 births.

The analysis showed that around 3.7 million — or 5.8% — of women of reproductive age in the U.S. live in a ‘double desert’ county that the March of Dimes considers having low access to maternity care or that is a maternity care desert, and that has no access to abortion services. Around 1.7 million women of reproductive age live in a county the March of Dimes considers a maternity care desert and do not have access to abortion.

The data reflects some consequences of the end of Roe vs Wade, said Yulin Hswen, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco and author on the JAMA analysis. It “entraps women in cycles of hardship,” she said.

Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky have the largest numbers of women of reproductive age living in those ‘double deserts,’ according to the analysis.

“What we’re looking at is that the reality is one of forced parenthood for many people without access to abortion,” says Julia Strasser, assistant research professor of health policy and management at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. “But then you don’t have the support services you need to be able to see someone through a pregnancy and delivery.”

There are two main types of risks to pregnancy in places without good access to pregnancy care services, Strasser says. The first is they might have to deliver in an emergency department where that care isn’t a core part of services. Second, they may not be able to get enough prenatal and postpartum care, which increases the risk for things like preterm birth, when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed, and maternal mortality.

Because of this, people living in maternity care deserts without access to abortion may have to continue a dangerous pregnancy or one they don’t want, and may also struggle to find the care they need during that pregnancy and delivery.

Abortion and maternity care aren’t unrelated, Strasser says, because it takes the same clinical skill set to provide abortion care as it does to respond to things like miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. “There’s not a bright red line between abortion care and the rest of pregnancy care,” says Strasser. “It’s really a compounding issue.”

That overlap may deepen going forward, Declercq says, because obstetricians may not want to work in places where they face restrictions on their ability to provide abortions and abortion-related care. “That will just exacerbate the problem,” he says.

Good access to maternity care is important everywhere in the U.S., but underinvestment in one aspect of pregnancy-related care is likely to coincide with underinvestment in others.

“This has never just been one thing,” Declercq says. “This is always the combination of a number of factors in terms of underfunding services, particularly for women.”

Dr. Benjamin Rader is a Computational Epidemiologist and Research Fellow with Boston Children’s Hospital. John Brownstein, Ph.D., is an ABC News contributor and the chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. They both contributed to this report.

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(FLORIDA) — Cases of leprosy are rising in Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the disease is still rare in the U.S. — with just 159 cases reported in 2020 — a new CDC analysis released Monday finds that Central Florida accounts for a bulk of those cases.

Central Florida appears to have the highest concentration of cases in the Sunshine State, with the region accounting for nearly one-fifth of reported cases in the U.S.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a lingering infectious disease caused by the acid-fast rod Mycobacterium leprae. The disease mostly impacts the skin and the peripheral nervous system, according to the CDC. Today, the disease is curable with antibiotics.

“Leprosy has been historically uncommon in the United States; incidence peaked around 1983, and a drastic reduction in the annual number of documented cases occurred from the 1980s through 2000,” the CDC said in its report. “However, since then, reports demonstrate a gradual increase in the incidence of leprosy in the United States.”

Most of the cases from 2020 were from Florida, California, Louisiana, Hawaii, New York and Texas, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

In recent decades, cases have been from travelers coming to the U.S. Now, researchers are pointing out that roughly one-third of cases from 2015 to 2020 appear to have been acquired locally, suggesting the disease is being transmitted in the U.S., either from person-to-person or from contact with animals like armadillos.

In 2015, one Florida county reported an increase in leprosy cases, where three people were diagnosed with the disease in five months.

Barry Inman, an epidemiologist for the Brevard County Department of Health, previously told ABC News that some of those infections from 2015 came from people interacting with armadillos, a known carrier of the disease.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration announced Monday it is forming a new Office of Long COVID Research and Practice to study the condition and help those who have been diagnosed with it.

The office, which will be under the Department of Health and Human Services, “is charged with on-going coordination of the whole-of-government response to the longer-term effects of COVID-19,” according to a news release.

“The Office of Long COVID Research and Practice will enhance efforts being undertaken across the U.S. government to improve the lives of those who continue to experience the long-term impacts of the worst public health crisis in a century,” HHS Secretary Admiral Rachel Levine said in a statement.

“Bringing together the resources and expertise of federal, state, and local partners, patients, providers, researchers, and the business sector to answer the American people’s most urgent calls to action,” Levine said

Long COVID is a condition that occurs when patients still have symptoms at least four weeks after they have cleared the infection. In some cases, symptoms can be experienced for months or years.

The HHS estimates that anywhere from 7.7 million to 23 million Americans have developed long COVID after being infected with the virus.

Symptoms vary and can include fatigue, difficulty breathing, headaches, brain fog, joint and muscle pain and continued loss of taste and smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A CDC survey last year found 81% of adults with ongoing symptoms of COVID lasting three months or longer — or four out of five adults — are experiencing limitations in their daily activities compared to before they had the virus. Additionally, 25% said they were experiencing significant limitations.

It’s unclear what causes people to develop long COVID but research is ongoing.

The HHS also announced Monday that the National Institutes of Health is launching long COVID clinical trials through the RECOVER Initiative, which seeks to understand, treat and prevent long COVID.

The new clinical trials will explore possible treatments for extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, changes in body function and cognitive dysfunction,

“As our nation continues to make strides in combating COVID-19, it is crucial that we address the impact of Long COVID and provide resources to those in need,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Last year, President Biden called on HHS to coordinate the response to Long COVID. The Official establishment of the Long COVID Coordinating office and the launch of the RECOVER clinical trials solidifies this issue as an ongoing priority.”

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(NEW YORK) — A Georgia resident has died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.

Health officials said in a release Friday the resident likely contracted Naegleria fowleri — an amoeba that destroys brain tissue — while swimming in a freshwater lake or pond.

Details about the patient including name, age, sex, race/ethnicity or town of residence were not provided.

It comes just a week after a 2-year-old in Nevada also died from the amoeba, according to a release from officials and a Facebook post from the boy’s mother.

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba so small it can only be seen with a microscope. It lives in soil and warm freshwater including lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers and hot springs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The amoeba infects people when contaminated water enters the nose and the amoeba migrates to the brain. It rarely infects people at pools, splash pads or surf parks due to chlorine and cannot be found in treated drinking water, the CDC said.

It also cannot infect people if the contaminated water is swallowed and does not spread from person to person, the GDPH release said.

Naegleria fowleri causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a disease of the central nervous system that is almost always fatal, according to the CDC.

Symptoms begin one to 12 days after exposure to contaminated water and stage I includes headache, nausea, vomiting and fever. Meanwhile stage II includes stiff neck, seizures, hallucinations, altered mental state and coma.

Patients typically die between one and 18 days after being infected and the disease progresses quickly because a diagnosis is hard to confirm.

Between 1962 and 2022, there have been 157 PAM cases reported in the U.S., according to the CDC, with most cases occurring in the summer months. Of those 157 people, just four have survived the infection.

“Prior to this newly confirmed case of Naegleria fowleri infection, there have been five other cases reported in Georgia since 1962,” the GDPH release said.

If PAM is caught early enough, it is treated with a combination of drugs including the antifungal medications amphotericin B and fluconazole and the antibiotics azithromycin and rifampin, the CDC said.

Although the risk of being infected with Naegleria fowleri is low, “Recreational water users should always assume there is a risk when they enter warm fresh water. If you choose to swim, you can reduce your risk of infection by limiting the amount of water that goes up the nose,” the health department said.

The CDC also recommends not putting one’s head under water in hot springs and other similar types of water and to avoid digging in the sediment of warm fresh water.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A Georgia resident has died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.

Health officials said in a release Friday the resident likely contracted Naegleria fowleri — an amoeba that destroys brain tissue — while swimming in a freshwater lake or pond.

Details about the patient including name, age, sex, race/ethnicity or town of residence were not provided.

It comes just a week after a 2-year-old in Nevada also died from the amoeba, according to a release from officials and a Facebook post from the boy’s mother.

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba so small it can only be seen with a microscope. It lives in soil and warm freshwater including lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers and hot springs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The amoeba infects people when contaminated water enters the nose and the amoeba migrates to the brain. It rarely infects people at pools, splash pads or surf parks due to chlorine and cannot be found in treated drinking water, the CDC said.

It also cannot infect people if the contaminated water is swallowed and does not spread from person to person, the GDPH release said.

Naegleria fowleri causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a disease of the central nervous system that is almost always fatal, according to the CDC.

Symptoms begin one to 12 days after exposure to contaminated water and stage I includes headache, nausea, vomiting and fever. Meanwhile stage II includes stiff neck, seizures, hallucinations, altered mental state and coma.

Patients typically die between one and 18 days after being infected and the disease progresses quickly because a diagnosis is hard to confirm.

Between 1962 and 2022, there have been 157 PAM cases reported in the U.S., according to the CDC, with most cases occurring in the summer months. Of those 157 people, just four have survived the infection.

“Prior to this newly confirmed case of Naegleria fowleri infection, there have been five other cases reported in Georgia since 1962,” the GDPH release said.

If PAM is caught early enough, it is treated with a combination of drugs including the antifungal medications amphotericin B and fluconazole and the antibiotics azithromycin and rifampin, the CDC said.

Although the risk of being infected with Naegleria fowleri is low, “Recreational water users should always assume there is a risk when they enter warm fresh water. If you choose to swim, you can reduce your risk of infection by limiting the amount of water that goes up the nose,” the health department said.

The CDC also recommends not putting one’s head under water in hot springs and other similar types of water and to avoid digging in the sediment of warm fresh water.

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(NEW YORK) — A new study is sounding the alarm about a rise in alcohol-related deaths, especially in women.

The investigation, published by JAMA’s Substance Use and Addiction on July 28, examined 605,948 alcohol-related deaths from 1999 to 2020, which didn’t include deaths from injuries, homicides or death indirectly linked to alcohol use. Researchers concluded men were 2.88 times more likely to die than women and that alcohol-related deaths were trending upward for both men and women.

However, the rate of death among women increased more rapidly over the same period, up to 14.7% between 2018 to 2020 versus 12.5% in men over the same two years.

ABC News Medical Contributor Dr. Darien Sutton told ABC News’ Good Morning America that there is a physiological difference between men and women when it comes to the effects of drinking, making women less able to metabolize alcohol as quickly as men.

“When we digest alcohol, it’s digested with an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase,” Sutton said. “Women typically have lower amounts of this enzyme, therefore exposing them to more toxic effects and negative long-term effects. I’m talking about liver disease, pancreatitis, heart failure and also beyond that, lower rates of fertility, earlier menopause and increased rates of colon cancer and breast cancer.”

What are the warning signs of excessive drinking?

There are several warning signs of binge or excessive drinking, which in women, means having more than four drinks in one sitting and in men, having more than five drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They include:

    •    Being unable to limit drinking
    •    Continuing to drink despite personal or professional problems
    •    Needing to drink more to get the same effect or having a very high tolerance compared to others
    •    Craving or wanting to drink so badly you can’t think of anything else
    •    Irritability or anxiousness when not drinking

What resources are available?

If you suspect that you or someone you know may have a drinking problem, consult with a health care provider.

You can also call the National Drug and Alcohol Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP, a free and confidential service that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The helpline can offer information about treatment programs in local communities and connect you with a professional who can discuss how to handle alcohol problems.

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(NEW YORK) — Doctors are increasingly discouraging people from using e-cigarettes given the mounting evidence about the significant negative health impact of vaping– even as a smoking cessation tool.

For current smokers, “there are other very powerful, safe and FDA approved interventions,” Dr. Petros Levounis, the President of the American Psychiatric Association and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said.

In July, new medical guidelines from the American College of Cardiology strongly discouraged the use of e-cigarettes, particularly in those with chronic heart disease. Even in young people, e-cigarettes have been shown to “increase heart rate, blood pressure and affect the ability of the blood vessels to relax,” said Dr. Naomi Hamburg, Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at Boston University. Using an alternative option that has been proven to be safe is ideal.

Though it was introduced to the U.S. markets in 2007, e-cigarette use has continued to soar. In the last two years alone, sales in the U.S. have increased by approximately 50%.

When compared to traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes have often been portrayed as lesser of two evils. According to Levounis, the flavoring options, perceived reduction in harm when compared to classic cigarettes, more manageable odor and targeted campaigns towards vulnerable populations including youth may be the reason for this.

But studies show that e-cigarettes cause harm by affecting the whole body. A medical condition called EVALI – E-cigarette or Vaping-use Associated Lung Injury – not only causes damage to the lungs but can also cause issues in other organs’ systems. Their long-term effects remain a mystery as they have not been on the market long enough to capture this information, experts say.

“We just cannot make a conclusion that it is safer than cigarettes,” said Dr. Jason Rose, a Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician who is also the Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Innovation & Physician Science at The University of Maryland.

Quitting tobacco from conventional cigarettes can be very challenging for most people.

But doctors are now warning that people who are trying to quit may start to use e-cigarettes in addition to conventional cigarettes — a phenomenon Hamburg calls a “dual use pattern.” This mixture is especially discouraged as the combined effect can be particularly harmful to blood vessels which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular issues.

Frances Daniels, a parent and volunteer at Parents Against Vaping, details the harrowing experience of watching her then 17-year-old who used e-cigarettes recreationally struggle in the Intensive Care Unit for 5 weeks after being diagnosed with EVALI.

“At some point they had 6 different chest tubes and was placed on a waitlist for transplants,” Daniels said.

Fortunately, Daniels’ child was able to make a full recovery without needing a lung transplant months after leaving the hospital, but the experience remains difficult to think and speak about.

“To watch your child struggle to do basic human functions like breathing, it’s pretty tough,” she said.

Doctors say anyone trying to quit smoking should stick to products approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Options include Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) with a patch, gum or inhaler and medications such as Bupropion or Varenicline. Oftentimes, combinations of these NRTs such as the patch and the gum are recommended. In some cases, psychosocial options such as cognitive behavioral therapy are needed, Levounis says.

Regardless of the tool utilized, adherence and appropriate use is important. For the gum, it is important to note that “It is not exactly double spear mint gum,” Levounis says. You need to chew and then park it between your gum and cheek till the tingling goes away.

E-cigarettes are not approved by the FDA as a smoking cessation tool, but companies continue to seek approval for this purpose. The FDA is insistent that further research is necessary to determine whether they can be safely utilized for those who wish to quit conventional tobacco cigarettes.

As smoking cessation tools, e-cigarettes “are not ideal and there are other options that are proven by science that are safe and effective,” Hamburg said.

Adesola Oje, MD is a Gastroenterology Fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — A red meat allergy caused by tick bites is an “emerging public health concern,” according to two new studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that arises after people eat red meat or consume products with alpha-gal, a type of sugar found in most mammals, the CDC says.

The syndrome is typically caused by a bite from the lone star tick, which transfers alpha-gal into the victim’s body which in turn triggers an immune system response.

The CDC says the number of AGS cases are underdiagnosed in the U.S. and — despite the spread of the condition — many clinicians aren’t even aware it exists, let alone how to diagnose it.

Between 2010 and 2022, there were more than 110,000 cases of AGS identified, according to the CDC.

The agency estimates the actual number of cases may be as high as 450,000 but notes the syndrome is underdiagnosed due to factors including that diagnosis requires a test, some providers are not familiar with AGS and some people with symptoms don’t get tested.

AGS symptoms can include hives or itchy rash, nausea or vomiting, heartburn or indigestion, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and severe stomach pain. Symptoms can range from mild to severe and typically occur two to six hours after consuming products with alpha-gal.

“Alpha-gal syndrome is an important emerging public health problem, with potentially severe health impacts that can last a lifetime for some patients,” Dr. Ann Carpenter, and epidemiologist and lead author of one of the CDC studies, said in a statement.

“It’s critical for clinicians to be aware of AGS so they can properly evaluate, diagnose, and manage their patients and also educate them on tick-bite prevention to protect patients from developing this allergic condition,” she added.

In one of the CDC studies, the team surveyed 1,500 health care professionals including general practitioners, pediatricians, internists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

The survey results showed 42% of the participants had never heard of AGS and 35% said they were “not too confident” in their ability to diagnose or manage AGS patients. Only 5% said they were “very confident” in their ability.

Two-thirds of the health care providers surveyed said clearly defined guidelines on how to diagnose and manage AGS would be helpful. The report’s authors described the limited knowledge among providers as “concerning,” especially due to the increasing number of AGS cases.

“Improved [health care provider] education might facilitate a rapid diagnosis of AGS, improve patient care, and support public health understanding of this emerging condition,” the authors wrote.

In another study, the CDC looked at tests between Jan. 1, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2022 to determine how quickly cases of AGS have increased since 2010.

From 2010 to 2018, more than 34,000 suspected cases were identified. However, over the 2017-2022 study period, some 357,000 tests were submitted, resulting in just over 90,000 positive results.

The number of new cases increased by about 15,000 each year during the five-year study period, with most cases occurring in the Southern, Midwestern, and Mid-Atlantic U.S., the CDC found.

“The burden of alpha-gal syndrome in the United States could be substantial given the large percentage of cases suspected to be going undiagnosed due to non-specific and inconsistent symptoms, challenges seeking healthcare, and lack of clinician awareness,” Dr. Johanna Salzer, senior author on both CDC studies, said in a statement. “It’s important that people who think they may suffer from AGS see their healthcare provider or an allergist, provide a detailed history of symptoms, get a physical examination, and a blood test that looks for specific antibodies (proteins made by your immune system) to alpha-gal.”

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