A single-dose topical therapy cures scabies in a human-relevant porcine model.

A single 4-hour topical therapy eradicates all mites and eggs in a human-relevant porcine model of severe scabies, outperforming standard oral ivermectin.

• Why it matters: Current scabies treatments lack ovicidal activity, require multiple doses, and face increasing resistance, limiting effective disease control and patient compliance.
• What they did: Researchers developed a topical combination of abametapir and flavesone, targeting multiple parasite stages through distinct mechanisms, and tested it in a porcine model assessing efficacy, pruritus, and pharmacokinetics.
• The result: The treatment completely eliminated mites and eggs, reduced pruritus, and demonstrated rapid skin drug concentrations, suggesting a simplified, resistance-resilient single-dose therapy for scabies.