DEET is a horrible chemical, I'd rather have the ticks than that
crap. Don't use it on a kid, and if you do insist, put it on your
clothes, and not your skin.

Check yourself when you come in. I've had rocky mountain spotted
fever, and as long as you treat it within 2 weeks with antibiotics the
fatality rate is 3%. If untreated, it's more like 30%.

The poster that said half the ticks carry bacteria is wrong. It's 1%,
actually, and North Carolina is the top state for it (that's where I
live). I get bitten by at least 1 tick a year (and have since I was
old enough to play in the woods), and the first/only time I've gotten
sick was when I was 30.

If you get bitten by a tick, or if you have flu-like symptoms during
tick season, go to your doctor, and they can do a blood test. If they
know what they are doing, they will start you on antibiotics right
away, and cancel it if the test comes back negative. A rash is common
if you get infected, but you can get sick and not have a rash.

Educate yourself, and don't make the kid paranoid about something so
rare, there are better things to give him a complex about.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/s...s/sub_lyme.htm