Treatment of scabies simplified
Keywords:
Scabies, ivermectin, poor compliance, re-infestation, extended therapyAbstract
Background Scabies is rampant in our community and conventional scabiecidal therapies arecumbersome, difficult to instruct and hard to implement. This often results in high failurerates because of noncompliance and/or re-infestations.Objective We examined the efficacy of prolonged oral ivermectin administration in theeradication of scabies.Methods Six doses of oral ivermectin, each amounting to 300 μg/kg, were given one weekapart to 50 patients and all of their family members/close contacts. No other instructions likechange of personal wears, bed sheaths, etc were given.Results A compliance rate of 60% was observed. One and two months follow ups showed acure rate of 80% and 96% respectively in the patients who completed the full course of thetherapy.Conclusion Oral ivermectin is an effective antiscabietic that is easy to administer in our busyhospital/clinical settings and has reasonable patient acceptability. Furthermore, physiciansneed not bother about the application ritual, frequency and time of application, and change ofclothing that are mandatory with the conventional treatment. Re-infestation is a majorproblem in our combined family system and/or large family size and extended administrationof this comparatively safe drug also has potential to address this key issue.References
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