Comparison of Topical 5% Permethrin and Topical 10% Sulfur in the Treatment of Scabies
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2022-09-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Sarcoptes scabiei is responsible for a skin infection called scabies. Permethrin is most
widely used anti-scabicidel drug and is taken as drug of choice because of its efficacy,
safety and patient's compliance. Sulfur 6-33%, as cream, ointment or lotion, is recommended
by the European guidelines as an effective alternative treatment and is among the oldest
treatments used for scabies. It is recommended to be applied for 3 consecutive days.
Both permethrin and sulfur have been shown in previous studies to be superior to other
anti-scabietic drugs in terms of efficacy. Two studies showed that permethrin was more
efficacious than sulfur, whereas a single study showed otherwise. Therefore, only a few
studies are available to find a direct comparison of the efficacy of topical 5% permethrin
and topical 10% sulfur in the treatment of scabies and none of them have been carried out in
Pakistan. The objective of the study is to compare the efficacy of topical 5% permethrin
cream and sulfur 10% ointment in the treatment of scabies.