Interested in Allergy Shots or Drops for Environmental Allergies?    Explore Which Option Is Best For You   How Do They Work?   Both allergy shots and sublingual drops are forms of allergen  immunotherapy (IT).  IT is the only treatment option available that decreases your immune system’s response to your allergens.    The allergen is shown to your body in miniscule amounts and then gradually increased over time. Through this process, your body learns to “tolerate” the allergen rather than view it as a threat. As this occurs, symptoms such as sneeze ..read more

Q: How long have you worked at AAFA Centers? A: I have worked at AAFA Centers for 4 years- and a lot has changed over that time! Three new offices and many new medical services. It’s been an amazing experience to be part of the growth. Q: What inspired you to be a physician assistant?  A: I am also a Registered Dietitian and previously worked in pediatrics (particularly Cystic Fibrosis). I wanted to be able to provide complete medical care and not only nutrition therapy. One of the pulmonologists I worked with encouraged me to pursue Physician Assistant studies. I wanted to work in a fie ..read more

This is a great question! As many of you reading this likely know, oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a desensitization process for treatment of peanut and other food allergies. You can think of oral desensitization as what Dread Pirate Roberts (Westley) did with iocane powder- a colorless, odorless, and deadly poison from Australia. Westley spent two years building up a tolerance to iocaine powder by ingesting increasing amounts of it, so it would not hurt him. He uses this protection to defeat Vizzini in their battle of wits!   Early OIT for peanut has been shown to be ~98% effective for inf ..read more

Allergy, Asthma & Food Allergy Centers has been using the doxy.me platform for telemedicine visits since Thursday, March 19, 2020, and this has worked very well for patients unable to come to one of our physical locations (Swansea, Illinois; Bloomsdale/Ste. Genevieve, Missouri; South County/Sunset Hills, MO; and West County/Chesterfield, MO).  Telemedicine Frequently Asked Questions: How does telemedicine work? A staff member will call you in the morning on the day of your scheduled appointment to collect insurance information and copays. You will receive a text in most cases (an e ..read more

  If you are on allergy shots and would like to reorder your allergy extract in this calendar year so that it can be billed to insurance before 2022, we must receive your order by Friday, December 17, 2021. Any orders placed after that date cannot be completed or billed until January 2022. Guidelines for reorder prior to year-end: LAST REFILL MUST HAVE BEEN A MINIMUM OF TWO MONTHS PRIOR. INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET. To order extract before year-end, please send us a message through your Patient Portal Account with “Allergy Extract Refill” in the subject line. Patients on ..read more

You can almost set your clock to it – winter ticks over into spring, plants start to bloom, and people’s noses start to act up – runny nose, stuffy nose, or even post-nasal drainage. The condition commonly called “seasonal allergies” or “hay fever,” which goes by the medical name of “Allergic Rhinitis,” affects up to 60 million people in the United States and can make life a snotty mess. Read below to learn more about this condition, including some common misconceptions. Fact or Fiction: Seasonal allergies are called that because they only occur in the spring and the fall FICTION. “Seasonal al ..read more

We are also excited to welcome Dr. Waterhouse to our AAFAC team! After graduating from medical school at UMKC, Dr. Waterhouse returned to St. Louis and did a pediatric residency at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. She completed her allergy and immunology fellowship at SLU, and after finishing her fellowship, she started the allergy department at SSM Medical Group, where she has worked for the past 10 years. Dr. Borts and Dr. Warrier were Dr. Waterhouse’s mentors during her fellowship, and she is honored to practice and work with them again. She’s also excited to offer her patients OIT for ..read more

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Dixit to our team of providers!  He grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and went to Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. Dr. Dixit stayed in Jackson for medical school at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He decided to pursue allergy and immunology and completed his fellowship at Saint Louis University. Dr. Dixit is excited to be joining the team, and will mainly be seeing patients in the Swansea, Illinois office. The post Welcome Dr. Dixit appeared fir ..read more

Dear Dr. Waterhouse Patients, We are delighted to welcome you to our practice! We aim to make your transition as smooth as possible.  If you are on allergy injections, we should have your vials by July. Please download the new patient paperwork from this page and allergy shot treatment consent and financial consent. We do ask that you please email the completed new patient paperwork, consent forms, copies of the front and back of your insurance card, and driver’s license to info@aafacenters.com. Please include in the subject line “transferring Dr. Waterhouse patient”. Please also schedul ..read more

Many people who live with asthma manage their symptoms by identifying and avoiding triggers, taking daily oral and inhaled medications, and using a quick-relief inhaler. Recently, many new drugs known as biologics have been approved for treating moderate-to-severe asthma. Biologic therapies are antibodies (immune proteins) that target specific molecules that contribute to poorly controlled asthma. There are many new biologic therapy options available to treat severe asthma. They work by disrupting the pathways that lead to inflammation in the body that causes asthma symptoms. Xolair and Nucal ..read more