Oral ivermectin versus 5% permethrin cream to treat children and adults with classic scabies: multicentre, assessor blinded, cluster randomised clinical trial

BMJ 2026 Open access

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Authors: F. Boralévi, Guillaume Simon, Charlotte Bernigaud, Jennifer Brun, E. Goujon, J.-L. Perrot, A. Phan, Anne-Laure Hérissé, Annabel Maruani, C. Vanhaecke, E. Couty, C. Abasq-Thomas
+40 more Marine Fournet, S. Mallet, E. Brenaut, Thomas Hubiche, X. Balguérie, Frédéric Caux, N. Bénéton, A.‐S. Dutkiewicz, H. Adamski, H. Aubert, E. Bourrat, C. Couzan, A. Éyraud, R. Janela‐Lapert, A. Marti, Juliette Miquel, Muriel Richard, S. Barbarot, B. Bonniaud, Cécile Chabbert, Fréderique Delion, Monica Dinulescu, Tu-Anh Duong, M. Étienne, G. Hirsch, Camille Isnard, F. Huet, E. Le Bidre, Sophie Leducq, Adeline Legrand, S. Monestier, F. Morice-Picard, Julien Sénéschal, Aurore Capelli, Caroline Lacoste, Christine Labrèze, Giulio Miraglia, G. Do–Pham, Bruno Giraudeau, O. Chosidow
DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2025-086277
Cited by: 13
References: 38

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether oral ivermectin or topical 5% permethrin can clinically cure scabies in index cases and in members of their households. DESIGN: Multicentre, assessor blinded, cluster randomised clinical trial. SETTING: 28 French hospitals, 19 January 2016 to 16 December 2021. PARTICIPANTS: Index cases; adults and children weighing >15 kg with scabies, confirmed by dermoscopy. INTERVENTIONS: Index cases were randomly assigned to the ivermectin group or permethrin group (1:1 ratio). Each member of the cluster, defined as the household of each index case, received the same treatment as the index case, except for children weighing

Fields of Study & Subjects

Dermatological diseases and infestations Helminth infection and control Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
BMJ
Publisher
BMJ
Volume
392
Pages
e086277–e086277
Publication date
6 January 2026
Language
EN