Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec 22:2014:1707.

Scabies

Paul Johnstone  1 , Mark Strong
Affiliations

Scabies

Paul Johnstone et al. BMJ Clin Evid. .

Abstract

Introduction: Scabies is a common public health problem. In many resource-poor settings, scabies is an endemic problem; whereas in industrialised countries, it is most common in institutionalised communities.

Methods and outcomes: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of topical treatments for scabies? What are the effects of systemic treatments for scabies? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to July 2013 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Results: We found five studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

Conclusions: In this systematic review, we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: benzyl benzoate (topical), crotamiton (topical), ivermectin (oral), malathion (topical), permethrin (topical), and sulfur compounds (topical).

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

  • Scabies.
    Johnstone PP, Strong M. Johnstone PP, et al. BMJ Clin Evid. 2008 Aug 22;2008:1707. BMJ Clin Evid. 2008. PMID: 19445807 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Athlete's foot.
    Crawford F. Crawford F. BMJ Clin Evid. 2006 Nov 1;2006:1712. BMJ Clin Evid. 2006. PMID: 19454046 Review.
  • Hypothyroidism (primary).
    Nygaard B. Nygaard B. BMJ Clin Evid. 2007 Dec 11;2007:0605. BMJ Clin Evid. 2007. PMID: 19450344 Review.
  • Head lice.
    Burgess IF, Silverston P. Burgess IF, et al. BMJ Clin Evid. 2015 Jan 14;2015:1703. BMJ Clin Evid. 2015. PMID: 25587918 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Genital herpes: oral antiviral treatments.
    Hollier LM, Eppes C. Hollier LM, et al. BMJ Clin Evid. 2015 Apr 8;2015:1603. BMJ Clin Evid. 2015. PMID: 25853497 Free PMC article. Review.
See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Scabies: Application of the Novel Identify-Isolate-Inform Tool for Detection and Management.
    Cheng TA, Mzahim B, Koenig KL, Alsugair A, Al-Wabel A, Almutairi BS, Maysa E, Kahn CA. Cheng TA, et al. West J Emerg Med. 2020 Feb 21;21(2):191-198. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2020.1.46120. West J Emerg Med. 2020. PMID: 32191175 Free PMC article.
  • Review of Scabies in the Elderly.
    Raffi J, Suresh R, Butler DC. Raffi J, et al. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2019 Dec;9(4):623-630. doi: 10.1007/s13555-019-00325-2. Epub 2019 Sep 11. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2019. PMID: 31512176 Free PMC article. Review.
  • The public health control of scabies: priorities for research and action.
    Engelman D, Cantey PT, Marks M, Solomon AW, Chang AY, Chosidow O, Enbiale W, Engels D, Hay RJ, Hendrickx D, Hotez PJ, Kaldor JM, Kama M, Mackenzie CD, McCarthy JS, Martin DL, Mengistu B, Maurer T, Negussu N, Romani L, Sokana O, Whitfeld MJ, Fuller LC, Steer AC. Engelman D, et al. Lancet. 2019 Jul 6;394(10192):81-92. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31136-5. Epub 2019 Jun 6. Lancet. 2019. PMID: 31178154 Free PMC article. Review.

References

    1. Meinking TL, Taplin D. Infestations. In: Schachner LA, Hansen RC, eds. Pediatric dermatology. New York, NY: Churchill Livingston, 1995.
    1. Green M. Epidemiology of scabies. Epidemiol Rev 1989;11:126–150. - PubMed
    1. Meinking TL, Taplin D, Hermida JL, et al. The treatment of scabies with ivermectin. N Engl J Med 1995;333:26–30. - PubMed
    1. Currie BJ, McCarthy JS. Permethrin and ivermectin for scabies. N Engl J Med 2010;362:717–725. - PubMed
    1. Strong M, Johnstone PW. Interventions for treating scabies. In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2013. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Search date 2010. - PubMed

Substances