Can DEET-based repellents be used on children?
The Center for Disease Control and Rrevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and other medical experts recommend the use of EPA-registered repellents for children. DEET-based products fall into that category. The AAP says that DEET-based products in concentrations of 30% or less can be used on children as young as two months of age. Parents should apply these products if the children are too young to read and understand the product application label. For children traveling in the U.S. or abroad to areas where dengue, malaria and other devastating mosquito-borne diseases are endemic, medical professionals agree that higher concentrations can be used. There are a number of mosquito-borne diseases such as LaCrosse Encephalitis and Eastern Equine Encephalitis found here in the U.S. that, while infrequent, can be deadly. West Nile virus (WNV) is now endemic across the U.S. In 2007, the youngest person to contract WNV was just three months old. WNV can cause life-altering e
