[Ticks, tick bites and how best to remove the tick]

As a rule, the tick, Ixodes ricinus, is picked up when its victim walks through low vegetation and brushes it off a leaf or blade of grass. Often hours later, the tick scores the skin at the site it selects and then pushes its barbed hypostome into the tiny wound to anchor itself to its victim with the aid of a cement-like substance and the barbs. While it sucks up blood, Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes pass out of the tick's intestine into its salivary glands and thence into the host. It is therefore of decisive importance that the tick be removed with a special forceps as early as possible. The use of such substances as glue, alcohol or nail varnish to remove the tick must be discouraged. Currently, antibiotic prophylaxis, examination of the tick for the presence of B. burgdorferi, or serological follow-up tests are not recommended.