N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, abbreviated DEET, is the most common active ingredient in insect repellents. It is intended to be applied to the skin or to clothing, and is primarily used to protect against insect bites. In particular, DEET protects against tick bites (which transmit Lyme disease, several rickettsioses, tick-borne meningoencephalitis and other tick-borne diseases) and mosquito bites (which transmit dengue fever, West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and malaria).
17 edits since May 19, 2008. Last edited Jul 26, 2008 by Cacycle (43).
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