{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T06:03:30Z","timestamp":1771049010080,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"SARAYA Ltd. Japan","award":["NA"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NA"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tungiasis, caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans, results in itching and pain. Effective treatments, such as dimeticones, are often unaffordable. A 3% phenothrin lotion has shown safety and efficacy in Kenyan trials. This study compared the cure rate and safety of 3% phenothrin lotion (as the intervention) and 0.05% potassium permanganate (KMnO4; as the standard-care comparator) over 14 days. This parallel-group, three-arm, non-blinded, randomised comparative trial was conducted in Vihiga County, Kenya. Participants aged \u22652 years with \u22651 viable flea on each foot were allocated (2:1:1) to KMnO4, single-dose 3% phenothrin, or two-dose 3% phenothrin groups. Overall, 415 fleas from 79 participants were followed up to day 14 (KMnO4, 213; single-dose, 129; two-dose, 73). On days 4 and 7, the single-dose phenothrin showed significantly higher cure rates (11.6% and 21.7%) than KMnO4 (0.9% and 11.7%) (p &lt; 0.001 and p = 0.013). The differences diminished by days 10 and 14 because of spontaneous flea death. The cure rate of the two-dose group on day-7 (8.2%) was lower than that of the single-dose group. Single-dose 3% phenothrin improved early cure rates compared to KMnO4, but not by days 10\u201314; two-dose phenothrin showed no benefit compared with single dose from day 7 onwards.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed11020047","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T16:13:32Z","timestamp":1770653612000},"page":"47","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Randomised, Parallel-Group Study to Compare the Efficacy of 3% Phenothrin-Containing Jigger Lotion Versus Potassium Permanganate for Treatment of Tungiasis in Vihiga County, Kenya"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Kana","family":"Suzuki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan"},{"name":"Nursing Course, School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3656-875X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Asiko","family":"Ongaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi 54840 00200, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0683-0585","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evans","family":"Amukoye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi 54840 00200, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7190-1082","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yasuhiko","family":"Kamiya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Feldmeier, H., Heukelbach, J., Ugbomoiko, U.S., Sentongo, E., Mbabazi, P., von Samson-Himmelstjerna, G., and Krantz, I. 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Dis., 18.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012341"}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/2\/47\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T05:14:56Z","timestamp":1771046096000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/2\/47"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed11020047"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed11020047","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2414-6366","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]}}}