Together we will be able to eliminate scabies as a health problem in regional Australia.

Scabies is a highly contagious, parasitic skin disease caused by the acarine itch mite. There are an estimated 300 million people every year who are affected.

Scabies is a real issue in Australia and affects about 7 in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at any given time. This is more than six times the rate seen in the rest of the developed world. It is a major public health problem in Indigenous communities. Scabies infestation is frequently complicated by bacterial infection, leading to the development of skin sores and other serious consequences such as septicaemia, acute rheumatic fever , chronic heart and kidney diseases – the rates of these diseases in remote Indigenous communities are amongst the highest in the world.

Children are particularly at risk and scabies infections can lead to premature deaths.

Outbreaks in vulnerable communities contribute to significant economic cost in national health services and impose a major cost on health care systems in resource poor tropical areas, where the disease is most prevalent. 

University of Canberra researchers Dr Mark Naunton and Dr Jackson Thomas are leading a team of researchers from universities around Australia who are looking into tea tree oil as a cheap, readily available, and effective treatment for scabies. Tea tree oil has been documented as being used in the community for over 90 years, with Indigenous populations using it for far longer. Tea tree oil is three times more effective at the treatment of scabies than current treatments and is able to be used by all age groups effected.

Preclinical investigations have demonstrated superior properties of tea tree oil when compared with current treatments. However, current data are insufficient to warrant recommendation for its use as a treatment, as previous studies were small.

The UC led team are therefore undertaking an international first, investigator-initiated, independently sponsored randomised controlled trial of a tea tree oil-containing gel formulation for the management of scabies in Indigenous children. The treatment may be the only treatment that possesses antibacterial, wound healing, anti-inflammatory and antipruritic effects. It will also have the advantage of being simple to use and implemented in remote communities easily, for the long-term management of scabies.

The study will be a pivotal step forward in improving Indigenous health.

By donating to this project, you’re partnering with us to further a simple treatment solution which would be affordable and effective, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities facing significant public health burden.