Norwegian scabies in an elderly patient who died after treatment with gammaBHC.

We report the first case of an elderly patient suffering from Norwegian scabies who died after treatment with gammaBHC. GammaBHC (60 mg) was applied over the entire body except for the head of a 91-year-old female in our geriatric ward. This chemical was used in a smaller dose than previously reported, and it proved to be effective except for its effect on the head. Six days after the initial application, gammaBHC (40 mg) was also applied to the patient's head, but she died 5 days later. We propose that application of gammaBHC to the head of such patients should be done with great caution.