Med J Malaya, 1950;4:281-283.

Abstract

In a Malay school, 150 school boys, all clinically positive for scabies, were divided into three approximately equal groups. The first group was treated with 0.5 per cent γ BHC [' Gammexane'] in coconut oil, the second with 20 per cent emulsion of benzyl benzoate and the third, as a control, with coconut oil. Each group received two treatments with a week's interval between. One week after the second treatment the patients were re-examined for clinical evidence of scabies. The percentage of cases recorded as cured after the two treatments was 48 for γ BHC, 39 for benzyl benzoate and 9 for coconut oil. [This paper is a good example of the danger of estimating the chemotherapeutic value of sarcopticidal drugs on purely clinical evidence.]