[Protection against tick bites].

There are numerous tick-borne infections, which include viral (TBE), parasitic (babesiosis) and bacterial diseases. Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) is the most common tick-borne disease in France. In temperate climates such as in France, ticks bite humans between March and October. Prevention relies on adequate clothing and on repellents. The latter are reviewed in this work. Repellents may be natural, made from eucalyptus, tomato and coconut, or synthetic, among which the most widely used is DEET (N,N,-Diethyl-m-toluamide). Newer, synthetic repellents exist such as IR3535 which, as well as being less toxic, also exhibits greater efficacy against ticks. Some repellents are used on the skin, while others, like permethrin, which is actually an insecticide, may be applied to clothing.