The HSE AMRIC team have circulated Issue 16 of their Green/Red Antibiotic Prescribing Report to community prescribers. Key messages accompanying this, and previous reports, can be found here.
The AMRIC team are advising that with improving weather, many people are pursuing outdoor recreation which can expose them to a risk of Lyme disease. The vector, infected ticks, should be removed with care to reduce transmission risk. The likelihood of transmission of Lyme disease is very low if the tick is removed within 36 hours. In such cases, prophylaxis is not indicated. Early Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis, and treatment decisions should be made without recourse to lab results. Details about tick removal, prophylaxis, testing and treatment are available on the HSE-antibiotic prescribing website.
