DUBLIN, Ohio — For the past 14 years, Dr. Summit Shah has treated people who suffer from seasonal allergies.
“So tree pollen is usually in like March, April, May, and then grass pollen starts in like May or June,” said Shah.
“About one in every three Americans actually has underlying allergies. So symptoms of like hay fever, itchy, watery eyes, itchy nose, nasal congestion, cough,” said Shah.
But the allergist, who works at Premier Allergy and Asthma in Dublin, said there’s another solution besides just taking over the counter medication. You can take seasonal allergy shots as well.
“Allergy shots are a way that you can take somebody who has really bad allergies and make them un-allergic to the things that they're allergic to,” said Shah.
The traditional allergy shots process takes three to five years to complete. Patients come in once a week for 52 weeks and then once every six months. Cassidy Pennington is one of the patients that has gone through this process because her seasonal allergies were so bad.
“I mean, I could not go outside. I couldn't sit by the pool. I couldn't have dinner outside on the patio because my allergies were so bad,” said Pennington. “I mean, I could not go outside. I couldn't sit by the pool. I couldn't have dinner outside on the patio because my allergies were so bad,” said Pennington.
It took her three years to complete the allergy shots process, but she said the long process changed her life.
“Now I can actually be outside and function normally. Thank goodness. Because like I said, I feel like I could never enjoy spring and summer like I wanted to just because stepping outside would be horrible,” said Pennington.
Three to five years may sound like a long time for people, so Shah is bringing a new type of allergy therapy to central Ohio called ILIT. It stands for intralymphatic immunotherapy. It’s three allergy shots over a three-month period.
“It's done in a inguinal lymph node and done under ultrasound guidance. So we use an ultrasound and we identify a lymph node and we actually inject the allergen into the lymph node,” said Shah.
While Shah says the three-month shot is not FDA approved yet but just as effective as the longer one, it’s not covered by insurance and can cost considerably more.
Still Pennington says if it were an option when she got her shot, she would’ve considered it.
“I definitely would have done it just for the convenience of three shots. And you're you know, Allergen is basically taken care of,” said Pennington.
“We have thousands of patients that we've been able to actually take who have miserable allergies, and now they're essentially symptom free,” said Shah.
