In Reply to: Bushmans Repellent posted by darbs on Saturday, 3. July 2010 at 16:06 Bali Time:
Before our first ever trip to Bali several years ago, our Travel Doctor, contrary to everything we had read, said that children could use the same repellent with the same DEET levels that adults can. WRONG!!! We woke up day two to two children who's body (everywhere that was sprayed the day before) ferociously swollen and red and incredibly painful (should have seen their faces..huge and swollen). It was hideous and I thought that they had contracted a hideous disease and should never have taken them to Bali....until I realised that they had no temperature and had lots of energy although they had a very painful rash. They had had a toxic reaction to the DEET. We used the normal tropical strength stuff with around 30% DEET. That is why in Bali you can buy the Johnson and Johnson Indonesian Just for Kids brand, 'Autan' at the shops in Bali. It has only 12.5% DEET and is the only safe level of DEET for children. DEET is TOXIC to small human beings. A 10 or 20 kilo child cannot tolerate 80% of DEET. Therein lies the problem. Children may be underprotected but who wants them to have a massive allergic reaction? We leave in a couple of weeks, and as usual I plan on keeping a steady and regular supply of Autan on the children. I suggest other parents work out over the first couple of days how much DEET their children can tolerate over a controlled period without reacting. Dengue is horrific, but so are toxic and painful levels of what I consider the equivalent of DDT sprayed directly on the skin. Very tough call.