What do George W Bush, Ben Stiller and Kelly Osbourne have in common? They have all been affected by Lyme disease – a potentially devastating bacterial infection that is increasingly common, yet which is often missed. The trouble is that symptoms are vague and varied. You catch it by being bitten by an infected tick when walking in a forest or grassy area in spring and summer. These blood-sucking creatures which attach to your skin are tiny, however – some just the size of a poppy seed – so often go unnoticed.