Mass Drug Administration for Scabies in Endemic Islands of Fiji

Scabies was recently added to the WHO list of neglected tropical diseases, with 100 million persons infected worldwide. In addition to pruritus and social stigmatization, secondary impetigo can cause significant systemic complications. Investigators randomized inhabitants of three scabies-endemic Fijian islands to one of three interventions: standard-care topical permethrin, mass administration of topical permethrin, or mass administration of oral ivermectin. The standard-care group received one topical permethrin dose for affected patients, with another dose at day 14 if symptomatic. Contacts received a single dose. The mass-treated permethrin group received permethrin cream on day 1 and 7 to 14 days later. All were encouraged to apply the…