A review in The Lancet described the priorities for research and action for the public health control of scabies.
A research paper in Lancet Infectious Diseases reported the results of the AIM study in the Solomon Islands, the largest trial of ivermectin-based mass drug administration (MDA) for scabies. Over 26,000 participants were enrolled. The MDA intervention reduced the prevalence of scabies by 88% and the prevalence of impetigo by 74% at 12 months. The scabies intervention was integrated with azithromycin MDA for trachoma. The safety and feasibility findings of co-administration were reported in a separate paper in The Lancet Global Health.
Two studies have reported the medium term effect of a single round of MDA. The 24-month follow-up results of the SHIFT trial in Fiji were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and the 36-month results of the AIM study were reported in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Finally, a perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine highlighted the collateral benefits of preventive chemotherapy on other NTDs. The importance of the impact on scabies and the leadership of IACS were highlighted.
These are just a selection of some of the outstanding new research on scabies. Congratulations to all involved in these and other projects. We are currently updating the Research and Publications pages on our website and will report back when this update is complete.
