Treatment of head lice in most cases is very simple. Using nit combs and over the counter head lice treatments like Lyclear are simple effective measures. The authors below report the use of an alternative lotion containing ivermectin, in the treatment of head lice. However, I am not sure that this is necessarily going to replace existing simple remedies.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Topical 0.5% Ivermectin Lotion for Treatment of Head Lice
David M. Pariser, M.D., Terri Lynn Meinking, Ph.D., Margie Bell, M.S., and William G. Ryan, B.V.Sc.
N Engl J Med 2012; 367:1687-1693November 1, 2012DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1200107
BACKGROUND
The emergence of resistance to treatment complicates the public health problem of head-louse infestations and drives the need for continuing development of new treatments. There are limited data on the activity of ivermectin as a topical lousicide.
METHODS
In two multisite, randomized, double-blind studies, we compared a single application of 0.5% ivermectin lotion with vehicle control for the elimination of infestations without nit combing in patients 6 months of age or older. A tube of topical ivermectin or vehicle control was dispensed on day 1, to be applied to dry hair, left for 10 minutes, then rinsed with water. The primary end point was the percentage of index patients (youngest household member with ?3 live lice) in the intention-to-treat population who were louse-free 1 day after treatment (day 2) and remained so through days 8 and 15.
RESULTS
A total of 765 patients completed the studies. In the intention-to-treat population, significantly more patients receiving ivermectin than patients receiving vehicle control were louse-free on day 2 (94.9% vs. 31.3%), day 8 (85.2% vs. 20.8%), and day 15 (73.8% vs. 17.6%) (P<0.001 for each comparison). The frequency and severity of adverse events were similar in the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS
A single, 10-minute, at-home application of ivermectin was more effective than vehicle control in eliminating head-louse infestations at 1, 7, and 14 days after treatment. (Funded by Topaz Pharmaceuticals [now Sanofi Pasteur]; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01066585 andNCT01068158.)