Tshegofatso Mabelane

Certain foods may also trigger allergies, while drugs might also stimulate a response. If not treated correctly, this response can have a drastic effect on your wellbeing or even be life–threatening (causing anaphylaxis). What is an allergy? Asthma is the most common type of allergy by far, says Dr Tshegofatso Mabelane, an immunologist at Morningside Mediclinic. “In South Africa, the number of deaths caused by asthma is the fourth highest in the world.

Severe meat allergy with anaphylaxis may be caused by sensitisation to alpha‐gal. Levels of alpha‐gal sensitisation that correlate with high risk of meat allergy are currently unknown. We have identified an area with a high prevalence of reported red meat allergy which offered the opportunity to evaluate the diagnostic value of IgE antibody tests.