Scabies infestation: the effect of intervention by public health education

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of scabies in an infested village; to educate the residents on self-treatment and prevention by the use of 5% monosulfiram soap; to evaluate the short term effectiveness of this intervention by determining, 2 weeks later, the compliance to self-treatment and prevention; and to determine the prevalence rate on the second visit. In 59 households (96.7% of the village) containing 313 persons, an educational session was held and a leaflet distributed on the use and availability of the soap. Thirteen persons (4.2%) from eight households (13.6%) had scabies. After 2 weeks, 7 persons (2.2%) (2 persisting and 5 new cases) from 5 households (8.5%) were infested. Thus a cure rate of 85% was obtained though the prevalence rate showed no statistically significant difference. Among the under 15 year olds, the numbers infected decreased from 10 to 3 while among the over 15 years olds, the numbers infected increased from 3 to 4, neither reading significance at the 5% level.