Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2005 Aug 13;331(7513):384-7.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.38537.468623.E0. Epub 2005 Aug 5.

Single blind, randomised, comparative study of the Bug Buster kit and over the counter pediculicide treatments against head lice in the United Kingdom

N Hill  1 , G Moor, M M Cameron, A Butlin, S Preston, M S Williamson, C Bass
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Single blind, randomised, comparative study of the Bug Buster kit and over the counter pediculicide treatments against head lice in the United Kingdom

N Hill et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of the Bug Buster kit with a single treatment of over the counter pediculicides for eliminating head lice.

Design: Single blind, multicentre, randomised, comparative clinical study.

Setting: Four counties in England and one county in Scotland.

Participants: 133 young people aged 2-15 years with head louse infestation: 56 were allocated to the Bug Buster kit and 70 to pediculicide treatment.

Interventions: Home use of proprietary pediculicides (organophosphate or pyrethroid) or the Bug Buster kit.

Main outcome measure: Presence of head lice 2-4 days after end of treatment: day 5 for the pediculicides and day 15 for the Bug Buster kit.

Results: The cure rate using the Bug Buster kit was significantly greater than that for the pediculicides (57% v 13%; relative risk 4.4, 95% confidence interval 2.3 to 8.5). Number needed to treat for the Bug Buster kit compared with the pediculicides was 2.26.

Conclusion: The Bug Buster kit was the most effective over the counter treatment for head louse infestation in the community when compared with pediculicides.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow of participants through trial
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Gratz N. Human lice—their prevalence, control and resistance to insecticides. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1997. (WHO/CTD/WHOPES/97.8.)
    1. Figueroa J, Hall S, Ibarra J. Primary health care guide to common UK parasitic diseases. London: Community Hygiene Concern, 1998: 1-16.
    1. Figueroa JI. Head lice: is there a solution? Curr Opin Infect Dis 2000;13: 135-9. - PubMed
    1. Downs AMR, Stafford KA, Harvey I, Coles GC. Evidence for double resistance to permethrin and malathion in head lice. Br J Dermatol 1999;141: 508-11. - PubMed
    1. Bingham P, Kirk S, Hill N, Figueroa J. The methodology and operation of a pilot randomized control trial of the effectiveness of the Bug Busting method against a single application insecticide product for head louse treatment. Public Health 2000;114: 265-8. - PubMed