With Lyme disease concerns growing in Nova Scotia, one team of researchers is pointing to an effective solution for those who find themselves with a risky tick bite. Rather than going to the emergency room, community pharmacists have been able to step in and prescribe preventive and Lyme treatment since a provincial decision in 2021. A team from Dalhousie University says the pharmacists’ services have cut ER visits for tick bites by half. “That doesn’t surprise me at all,” says Allison Bodnar, CEO of the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia. “We know when pharmacies contribute to the system we see real changes.” Led by Dr. Emily Black, a professor in the College of Pharmacy and PharmD student Larissa Doiron, the study scanned medical records from a three-year period that covered before and after 2021. They scanned medical records and reviewed 1,019 patient encounters across three emergency departments. The Dalhousie study found offering preventive health services through pharmacists can decrease the burden on other parts of the health-care system, like overcrowded ERs with long wait times. Dr. Matthew Clarke says he’s noticed a significant difference in emergency departments when it comes to ailments pharmacists can treat. “I think it’s so great that we have other health-care professionals that we’re supporting and working to their full scope of practice,” he says. “Any patient who has to spend a lot of time in emergency department waiting rooms can tell you it’s not a great experience,” Clarke explains. “So, any time someone can find other avenues to get care, often it’s closer to home for them, less of a wait … I think it’s really important for patients.” Pharmacies have a broad scope of practice. Bodnar says all 320 in the province can provide vaccines, injections and treat more than 30 common ailments. Clarke emphasizes how common tick bites and tick-related illnesses are in emergency departments. “It’s something we see relatively frequently,” he says. “We have, unfortunately, a large population of ticks and significant concern around Lyme disease as well.” Nicolas DesAulniers, owner and manager of Mosaic Pharmacy & Clinic in Halifax, says he’s very happy to hear Dalhousie’s reporting on the role pharmacists have been playing. “We’ve all heard stories about how long waits are at the ER and we know it’s not for lack of effort from the staff,” he says. DesAulniers says a lot of people don’t have access to a family doctor and have to go to the ER for issues like tick bites. “Whereas everyone has access to a pharmacy and we can readily intervene,” he adds. “And it’s something most importantly that helps to take the load off the health-care system. So, anybody we see and successfully treat, that is one less person who’s going to emergency.” Clarke notes the importance of starting treatment for Lyme disease in earlier stages. He says later stages can be more serious, affecting the neurologic system and the heart. Ticks prefer moist and humid environments and can often be found in wooded areas, parks and gardens. Blacklegged ticks, which transmit Lyme, are typically active until the temperature is consistently below 4 C. “Ticks can be found anywhere in nature,” says DesAulniers. “We don’t really have very hard, cold winter days very often, so frankly even in the middle of winter it’s still a concern.” Bodnar says before Nova Scotia’s pharmacies could administer the preventive Lyme treatments, they could see an “increasing frequency” in tick-related illnesses. “I think we know from a Lyme perspective, increasing rates of tick bites, increasing rates of Lyme, and folks were really struggling to get access and worrying what to do when they were bit by a tick,” she says. Ticks can carry other diseases like Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis and Powassan virus, though there are no known cases of the latter in the province. The health-care experts say to check for ticks after period outdoors and safely remove them as soon as possible. If a tick has been there for a while, looking embedded or engorged, it may be time for a checkup. Bodnar adds any Nova Scotians interested in booking appointments at their local pharmacy can do so online. With files from CTV Atlantic’s Callum Smith For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
