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

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 <15 kg who were prescribed topical 5% permethrin. All…