How do you administer an allergy shot?
Injections are given subcutaneously using a 1-mLsyringe with a 26 or 27 gauge half-inch non-removable needle. Injections should be given in the posterior portion of the middle third of the upper arm at the junction of the deltoid and triceps muscles.
What is the protocol for allergy shots?
To be effective, allergy shots are given on a schedule that involves two phases:The buildup phase generally takes three to six months. Typically shots are given one to three times a week. ... The maintenance phase generally continues for three to five years or longer. You'll need maintenance shots about once a month.
Do you need to aspirate when giving an IM injection?
Although aspiration prior to intramuscular injection was standard practice until a few years ago, it is no longer recommended by the World Health Organisation and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Can an allergy shot be given incorrectly?
Patients have been reported who have received incorrect allergy injections. These could put them at risk for anaphylactic reaction and a possible fatality. We performed a survey to determine allergists' experiences with incorrect injections and to identify opportunities for prevention.
What happens if an allergy shot is given in the muscle?
If the shot is given incorrectly (into the muscle) may get red, hot, tender, painful, and may even bruise! This also may be counteracted by using a cool compress plus Tylenol for pain.
Can nurses administer allergy shots?
Answer: No, a nurse cannot give that allergy shot. The supervision requirements is direct, which means a physician must be in the office suite before a patient can be administered allergy shots -- not necessarily the patient's physician, but a physician.
What do you do if you aspirate blood during IM injection?
What if I see blood in the syringe?Remove the needle without giving the medicine.Dispose of the needle in a safe way. Use a hard plastic, metal, or "sharps" container with a lid.Use a new needle to give the shot. You can put a new needle on the syringe and then give the injection in a new spot.
Do you pinch the skin for IM injection?
Insert needle at an 45o angle to the skin. Pinch up on SQ tissue to prevent injecting into muscle. Aspiration before injection is not required.
Do you massage an IM injection site?
Doing a massage of the site after an injection can cause the drug to back up through the subcutaneous tissue, so any type of massage is to be avoided with intramuscular injections.
What angle do you give allergy shots?
Using a syringe with a needle length of 4 mm, at a 45° angle to the skin, may decrease the risk of accidental intramuscular injections, which increases the risk of anaphylaxis.
Why are allergy shots so painful?
With many routine vaccinations, the injection is delivered intramuscularly (into the muscle), which is associated with greater pain than shots that are injected subcutaneously (just under the surface of the skin). 1 Allergy shots are given subcutaneously, which tends to be associated with much less pain.
What size needle do you use for allergy injections?
US National Guidelines state that allergen immunotherapy extract injections should be given with a calibrated small-volume syringe with a 26- to 27-gauge 1/2- or 3/8-inch non-removable needle (commonly referred to as 'insulin needles') (Cox et al, 2011).
How long do you have to take allergy shots?
How long do I have to take shots? The standard duration of treatment is 3-5 years to receive maximum benefit. Most patients can be stopped at that time. Most people have lasting remission of allergy symptoms, but others may relapse after stopping allergy shots.
How often do you have to get allergy shots?
You'll get the shot in your upper arm. It'll contain a tiny amount of the thing you're allergic to -- pollen, pet dander, mold, dust mites, or bee venom, for example. The dose will go up gradually until you get to what's called a maintenance dose. After that, you'll usually get a shot every 2-4 weeks for 4-5 months.
How long does it take for allergy shots to start working?
You may notice a decrease in symptoms during the build-up phase, but it may take as long as 12 months on the maintenance dose to notice an improvement. If allergy shots are successful, maintenance treatment is generally continued for three to five years.
What is the success rate of allergy shots?
Allergy shots are usually a very effective way of treating chronic allergies. It may take some time, but most people find that regular shots can help them when other common treatments haven't worked. Studies show that 85% of people who suffer from hay fever see a reduction in their symptoms when they receive shots.
Overview
Why It's Done
- Allergy shots may be a good treatment choice for you if: 1. Medications don't control your symptoms well, and you can't avoid the things that cause your allergic reactions 2. Allergy medications interact with other medications you need to take or cause bothersome side effects 3. You want to reduce your long-term use of allergy medication 4. You're allergic to insect stings All…
Risks
- Most people don't have much trouble with allergy shots. But they contain the substances that cause your allergies — so reactions are possible, and can include: 1. Local reactions,which can involve redness, swelling or irritation at the injection site. These common reactions typically begin within a few hours of the injection and clear up soon after. 2. Systemic reactions,which are less …
How You Prepare
- Before starting a course of allergy shots, your doctor will use a skin test or blood test to determine that your reactions are caused by an allergy — and which specific allergens cause your signs and symptoms. During a skin test, a small amount of the suspected allergen is scratched into your skin and the area is then observed for about 15 minutes. Swelling and redness indicate an allerg…
What You Can Expect
- Allergy shots are usually injected in the upper arm. To be effective, allergy shots are given on a schedule that involves two phases: 1. The buildup phasegenerally takes three to six months. Typically shots are given one to three times a week. During the buildup phase, the allergen dose is gradually increased with each shot. 2. The maintenance phas...
Results
- Allergy symptoms won't stop overnight. They usually improve during the first year of treatment, but the most noticeable improvement often happens during the second year. By the third year, most people are desensitized to the allergens contained in the shots — and no longer have significant allergic reactions to those substances. After a few years of successful treatment, so…
Infection Control and Sterile Technique
- General Precautions
Persons administering vaccinations should follow appropriate precautions to minimize risk for disease exposure and spread. Hands should be cleansed with an alcohol-based waterless antiseptic hand rub or washed with soap and water before preparing vaccines for administratio… - Vaccine Administration: Preparation and Timely Disposal
Vaccines should be drawn up in a designated clean medication area that is not adjacent to areas where potentially contaminated items are placed. Multi-dose vials to be used for more than one patient should not be kept or accessed in the immediate patient treatment area. This is to preve…
Route of Administration
- Injectable Route
Routes of administration are recommended by the manufacturer for each immunobiologic (Table 6-1). With the exceptions of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine and smallpox vaccine (administered intraepidermally), injectable vaccines are administered by the intramuscular or su… - Oral Route
Rotavirus, adenovirus, cholera vaccine, and oral typhoid vaccines are the only vaccines administered orally in the United States. Oral typhoid capsules should be administered as directed by the manufacturer. The capsules should not be opened or mixed with any other substance. Ro…
Multiple Injections
- If multiple vaccines are administered at a single visit, administer each preparation at a different anatomic site (28). The location of all injection sites with the corresponding vaccine injected should be documented in each patient’s medical record. Health-care practices should consider using a vaccination site map so that all persons administering vaccines routinely use a particula…
Jet Injections
- Jet injectors are needle-free devices that pressurize liquid medication, forcing it through a nozzle orifice into a narrow stream capable of penetrating skin to deliver a drug or vaccine into intradermal, subcutaneous, or intramuscular tissues (32-33). Immune responses generated by jet injectors against both attenuated and inactivated viral and bacterial antigens are usually equival…
Methods For Alleviating Discomfort and Pain Associated with Vaccination
- Comfort measures, such as distraction (e.g., playing music or pretending to blow away the pain), cooling of the injection site(s), topical analgesia, ingestion of sweet liquids, breastfeeding, swaddling, and slow, lateral swaying can help infants or children cope with the discomfort associated with vaccination (40-42). Pretreatment (30-60 minutes before injection) with a 5% to…
Clinical Implications of Nonstandard Vaccination Practices
- Best practice guidance for route, site, and dosage of immunobiologics is derived from data from clinical trials, practical experience, normal intervals of health care visits, and theoretical considerations. ACIP discourages variations from the recommended route, site, volume, or number of doses of any vaccine. Variation from the recommended route and site can result in in…
References
- Boyce JM, Pittet D. Guideline for hand hygiene in health-care settings. Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene T...
- Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens; needlesticks and other sharps injuries; Final Rule (29 CFR Part 1910). Fed Regist. …
- Boyce JM, Pittet D. Guideline for hand hygiene in health-care settings. Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene T...
- Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens; needlesticks and other sharps injuries; Final Rule (29 CFR Part 1910). Fed Regist. 2001;66(12):5318-5325.
- Siegel J, Rhinehart E, Jackson M, Chiarello L, the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. 2007 guideline for isolation precautions: preventing transmission of infectious agents...
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. General recommendations on immunization. Re…
