TY  - EJOU
AU  - Diatta, D. Georges
AU  - Ndiaye, N. Dame
AU  - Diagne, D. Nafissatou
AU  - Richmond Tra Bi, R. Broaly
AU  - Mediannikov, M. Oleg
AU  - Hammoud, H. Alissa
AU  - Ba, B. El Hadji
AU  - Diallo, D. Aldiouma
AU  - Bassene, B. Hubert
AU  - Vray, V. Muriel
AU  - Cortaredona, C. Sébastien
AU  - Parola, P. Philippe
AU  - Raoult, R. Didier
AU  - Sokhna, S. Cheikh
TI  - Assessment of the Therapeutic Effectiveness of the Combination of Oral Ivermectin and Azithromycin in the Treatment of Head Lice Infestations in Rural Areas of Senegal
T2  - African Journal of Parasitology, Mycology and Entomology

PY  - 2026
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
SN  - 1987-1473

AB  - Introduction: Head lice infestations are widespread in Senegal and widely distributed throughout the world with high proportions. Recent studies involving classical treatment modalities and alternative ivermectin treatment indicated the existence of an ivermectin-resistant head lice population. Method: Our study involved oral combination of ivermectin with azithromycin to prevent mutant-resistant lice to treatment with oral ivermectin alone. Each infested participant weighing at last 15 kg was administered orally a single dose of 333 µg/kg of ivermectin combined with one or two 250 mg tablets of azithromycin and/or one 500 mg, repeated on day 7 if lice infestation persisted. Result: Of 315 participants, 308 and 304 patients were respectively followed-up on days 7 and 15, with a respective reduction in infestation of 27.6% and an effectiveness of 66.4% (p ˂ 0.001). On day 28, 280 were no longer infested with lice or living eggs, revealing 96.2% (280/291) effectiveness (p ˂ 0.001) achieved without any participant stopping treatment. Conclusion: After conducting PCR-RFLP assays and sequencing the two mutation sites, no mutation for either polymorphism occurred and no resistant lice were found. Resistant lice subjected to oral ivermectin treatment alone is not likely to be apparent in an infested population treated with oral ivermectin and azithromycin combination.
KW  - oral ivermectin and azithromycin combination
KW  - head lice treatment
KW  - ivermectin resistant lice
KW  - rural areas
KW  - Senegal
DO  - 10.35995/ajpme04010001