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Allergy Immunotherapy

If you are currently under the care of an allergist and receiving allergy immunotherapy, a registered nurse at Student Health Services can administer your injections in the Student Health clinic after approval by a clinic physician.  

Medical Consultation

Before we begin injections at SHS, you first need a medical consultation with a clinic physician. This appointment can be in person or over telehealth. Please call (904) 620-2900 to schedule.

Required Records

We require medical records and directions regarding dosing schedule to be faxed from your allergist before your consultation appointment. Have your allergist’s office fax all records to Student Health Services at (904) 620-2902 (F). Please do not have your allergist ship your allergy serum vials to Student Health until you have completed your medical consultation and received approval. Your allergist is still responsible for the management of your immunotherapy for the modification of doses during therapy.  

Each case is reviewed individually, but according to our policy there are some circumstances in which students may not receive approval for allergy immunotherapy at our clinic. These may include:  

  • Receiving allergy immunotherapy less than 6 months 
  • Having had a systemic or severe allergic reaction from allergy injections in the past 
  • Having increased asthma symptoms that required new/additional therapy for asthma management 
  • Receiving injections for food allergies and/or insect venom 
  • Students on beta-blockers or MAO inhibitors.  

Transferring Serum Vials

After you have completed your medical consultation and receive approval to begin allergy injections at SHS, work with your allergist to arrange transport of your allergy extract vials to our clinic. You can deliver these by hand, or the clinic can ship them overnight. The mailing address is 1 UNF Drive, Bldg. 39A, Room 2098. Jacksonville, FL 32224.  

Allergy serum vials must be labeled with your name, the concentration of each vial, and the expiration date of each vial. A shot record with instructions for each vial must be included and this information must match the labels on the vials. Recent shots with the dates, name of serum, location of each injection, concentration and any reactions should also be included.  

SHS will provide the service of storing allergy serum vials for patients between injections. All allergy serum vials will be stored in a temperature-controlled refrigerator. If you are planning a vacation, school change, or are no longer eligible for care within SHS, you are responsible for coming to SHS to sign out allergy serums. 

Required Forms

Your allergist must complete and sign the Allergist Letter of Consent for Treatment

You will be required to complete all necessary SHS pre-visit forms through your patient portal before each appointment. This will include an Allergy Self Check In Form and an Allergy Consent Self Check In Form.  

The allergy records from your allergist must contain the following information:

  • Physician name, address, office phone / fax number(s).
  • List of all materials in Allergy Serum vials.
  • Specific dosage and frequency of injections.
  • A plan for modification of the dosage if the patient is late for the injection or if there has been a reaction with the previous injection. 
  • Guidelines for administration of allergy injections based on reaction size, including clearly defined parameters describing possible reactions.
  • Include an Allergist Letter of Consent for Treatment, signed by the patient’s primary allergist and returned along with a clinical summary of the patient’s therapy and any other pertinent patient information.

Allergy Injection Safety

Patient safety is our utmost priority. Therefore, we ask that all patients here for allergy injections adhere to the following clinic safety guidelines: 

  • No injections will be given if you are ill, febrile, wheezing, have an upper respiratory infection, or have hives or an unknown rash.  
  • You will be required to wait for 30 minutes after receiving an allergy injection for observation.  
  • You should not plan to travel out of town on the day of an allergy injection.  
  • If you have a history of asthma, you will be required to have a baseline peak flow measured before allergy injection administration begins at SHS and then again at each visit to assess for asthma exacerbation.  
  • You should not exercise for 2 hours after an allergy injection due to the possibility of delayed reactions.
  • Non-adherence to your prescribed allergy immunotherapy schedule will result in the discontinuation of your allergy injections at SHS. 
  • Several “NO SHOW” appointments in the semester will be dealt with on an individual basis. We may decline to administer further allergy injections. 

Fees for Allergy Injections     

A nominal fee is charged for administering an injection at SHS. Students receiving 1-2 allergy injections will incur a $15 charge. Students requiring 3 or more allergy injections will be charged $20.