The article by our colleagues at Hospital Rey Juan Carlos and Hospital La Princesa reminds us of the possibility of using oral ivermectin to treat scabies.1 This treatment is accepted, recognized, and widely used in other countries—for example, Brazil—but a commercial formulation is not available in Spain. Therefore, the use of this treatment is limited and it must be specially prepared or requested for use as a foreign medication.

This medication is usually administered as a single 200μg/kg dose. However, this study found that a high percentage of patients required 2 or 3 doses. The authors therefore decided to increase the single dose to 400μg/kg and found that the medication was well tolerated. The 13 patients treated at this dosage were cured and did not require a second dose.

At both dosages, nearly half of the patients had eczematous eruptions as a side effect and required treatment with topical corticosteroids and emollients, as occurs with other treatments for scabies.

Because the sample size (23 patients) was small for such a common disease, further research is advisable in order to confirm the findings of the study. We therefore suggest that the authors continue working in this direction.