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Today, 07 November 2009

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Yesterday, 06 November 2009

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Question

I was concerned to see Quellada® mentioned in your reply to a question about the treatment of scabies. Several American sites I have visited suggest very strongly that preparations containing lindane, as does Quellada, should only be used with caution, and not at all in infants. Are you aware of the dangers? My 3 month old child was recently prescribed Quellada, one application, followed by washes with Tetmasol® soap, when she had scabies. Is there any organisation in South Africa similar the to American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to whom one may turn for information on potentially hazardous medications?

Answer

I am well aware of the hazards of lindane, and I apologise for not mentioning them in the reply to which you refer. In fact Quellada is not longer on the WHO list of essential drugs for this reason. I am surprised that your young child was given Quellada. I have not worked in private practice very much, but certainly in the municipal clinics where scabies is seen commonly, no child under 1 year is treated with Quellada. We tended to use a sulphur ointment and sometimes Tetmasol soap in severe infestations. Scabies is difficult to control in very young children because all preparations used to eliminate it are potentially toxic.

There are two possible sources of information on drugs in South Africa. The first and probably most accessible is the National Adverse Drug Event Monitoring Centre, Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Cape Town, Observatory 7925, tel: (021) 47 1618, fax: (021) 448 6181. The other is the Medicines Control Council, Department of Health, Private Bag X828, Pretoria 0001, tel: (012) 312 0000, fax: (012) 326 4344.

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