Pharmacist initiation of postexposure doxycycline for Lyme disease prophylaxis.

OBJECTIVES To enhance public access to prophylaxis for Lyme disease following an identified Ixodes scapularis tick bite through pharmacist-initiated antibiotic therapy and to assess patient satisfaction with the pharmacy-based service provided. SETTING Independent community pharmacy in Charlestown, RI, from May to October 2012. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION Under a collaborative practice agreement, trained pharmacists at an independent pharmacy identified patients eligible for postexposure antibiotic prophylaxis following attachment and removal of an I.

Babesiosis as a cause of fever in patients undergoing a splenectomy.

Babesiosis is an emerging infection most commonly acquired from a tick bite. We describe three hospitalized patients with fever attributable to babesiosis after a splenectomy. Splenectomy was done because of splenic enlargement due to unsuspected babesia infection in one patient and because of splenic perforation due to babesiosis in a second patient.