Mass drug administration for endemic scabies: a systematic review

Scabies is an extremely fastidious infestation caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite. It causes a persistent itch that can disrupt a person's mental health, sleep, and overall quality of life. In endemic areas, treatment by targeting symptomatic individuals and their contacts is often unsuccessful due to an asymptomatic period and high rates of re-infection. To overcome this, Mass Drug Administration (MDA) is often used to treat the whole community, irrespective of whether individuals presently have scabies. This review summarises the evidence for the effectiveness of MDA in treating scabies.

An exhaustive literature review was conducted on MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Scopus. All peer-reviewed articles published in English January 1990 to March 2020 were eligible and only if the studies were primary and interventional. Furthermore, the intervention had to be a pharmacological MDA method involving human subjects.

TWELVE articles that qualified for inclusion were identified. MDA for scabies significantly reduced its prevalence in communities at follow up. Some of the drivers of success were communities with low levels of migration, an uptake of MDA of > 85%, the use of oral Ivermectin therapy, the treatment of children and pregnant women within the treated population, and repeated treatment for participants diagnosed with scabies at baseline.

The average absolute reduction in prevalence of scabies was 22.0% and the relative reduction average was 73.4%. These results suggest MDA is effective in treating scabies in the endemic community. Further evidence is needed surrounding MDA use in urban areas with increased levels of migration. Importantly, MDA should not substitute the tackling of socioeconomic factors which contribute to endemic disease such as good sanitation and hygiene.