Repelling Mosquitos After The Hurricane: DEET vs. Dengue Fever

NASSAU, BAHAMAS–Hurricanes are followed by a storm of mosquitos and other insects that have been blown from their homes in trees and shrubbery, any hurricane survivor will tell you. And like other hurricane surivors, those insects are often hungry, thirsty, and cranky.
Bahamians will emerge tomorrow relatively unscathed by Irene to high temperatures, high humidity, and swarms of displaced mosquitos, bees, and wasps.
I've never been a fan of DEET, the most common insect repellent, not only because it has been linked to nervous disorders in humans and fatalities in fish, but also because of its persistence in the environment. It has been found again and again in Chicago's drinking water.
I have found eucalyptus oil effective on the streetwise mosquitos of Chicago's South Side. But there's another villain afoot in the tropics, including Central and Southern Florida, that puts environmental concerns in the perspective of more immediate health worries.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, dengue fever is at its highest levels in two decades in Southern and Central America and the Caribbean. Two-hundred cases have been confirmed in the Bahamas, with another 800 suspected.
Mosquitos here are tiny, nearly silent, and conduct their bloodsucking business with little apparent regard for repellents. Nonetheless, cans of OFF, infused with DEET, are widely wielded here.
On Aug. 9, the State Department issued an advisory warning Americans traveling to the Bahamas of the threat of dengue fever here. But dengue fever is there too. Cases have been confirmed in the Florida Keys and Central Florida.
"You get a real great fever, a horrible fever; it's called ‘break bone fever.’ You feel like your bones are breaking, but it's really joint pain,” Dr. Todd Husty told WESH, Orlando's NBC affiliate.
Major health agencies including the CDC and Florida's Department of Health recommend DEET as the most potent repellant to protect against dengue fever, but it's not the only option. They also recommend a variety of eucalyptus oil–oil of lemon eucalyptus–that scientists say is the most potent of plant-based repellants.
"In two recent scientific publications, when oil of lemon eucalyptus was tested against mosquitos found in the U.S. it provided protection similar to repellants with low concentrations of DEET," according to CDC.
The CDC urges caution with both substances on infants and small children and mentions several other chemicals that may be effective.
What would you put it your hurricane survival kit: the softer protection of a plant based repellant or the best chemical known to keep dengue fever at bay?