Oral ivermectin in the treatment of body lice.
The mainstays of treatment of body-louse infestation in humans in a community setting are insecticides and the removal of infested clothing. We report here the dramatic effect that 3 doses of oral ivermectin (12 mg each), administered at 7-day intervals, have in reducing the total number of body lice in a cohort of homeless men from a shelter in Marseilles, France. We identified a baseline total of 1898 lice in the cohort. Over a 14-day period, this number fell to 6 lice; the prevalence of infested individuals fell from 84.9% to 18.5%. Although this effect was not sustained at day 45, it establishes that ivermectin plays a novel role in the control of body-louse infestation in humans.
Foucault
Cedric
C
Unite des Rickettsies CNRS UMR 6020, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie INSERM UMR 399, Faculte de Medecine, Universite de la Mediterranee, Marseille, France.
Ranque
Stephane
S
Badiaga
Sekene
S
Rovery
Clarisse
C
Raoult
Didier
D
Brouqui
Philippe
P
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010374:Pediculus / Q000187:drug effects; D015995:Prevalence; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D007306:Insecticides; D007559:Ivermectin