Open field study on the efficacy of oral fluralaner for long-term control of flea allergy dermatitis in client-owned dogs in Ile-de-France region

Background: fluralaner is the first orally administered isoxazoline to provide 12 weeks of activity against fleas and ticks after a single administration. as a result of its potent anti-flea activity,oral fluralaner may be proposed as a component of a strategy for the control of flea allergy dermatitis (fad) in dogs. the open field study reported here assessed the efficacy of fluralaner for long-term control (up to 6 months) of fad in affected client-owned dogs maintained under common household conditions in the ile-de-france region. methods: this was an open pre-treatment versus post-treatment study. client-owned dogs with clinical signs of fad were recruited and treated with oral fluralaner (bravecto®) at 25-56 mg/kg body weight on days 0 and 84. the dogs' condition was assessed at each visit (on days 0,28,84 and 168) using the following three parameters: (i) extent of skin lesions based on the scoring system for canine fad; (ii) pruritus severity based on the pruritus visual analog scale; (iii) presence or absence of fleas or flea feces. results: of the 26 dogs initially enrolled,23 were presented on day 28,20 on day 84 and 16 for the final evaluation on day 168. eighteen out of 20 dogs (90 %) presented on day 84 and 15 out of 16 dogs (94 %) presented on day 168 showed a complete clinical resolution. the post-treatment fad clinical scores on days 28,84 and 168 were significantly different from that of the pre-treatment with a reduction of 89.8 %,98.8 % and 99.8 %,respectively. the post-treatment pruritus index values on days 28,84 and 168 were significantly different from that of the pre-treatment with a reduction of 45.2 %,71.2 % and 80.8 %,respectively. conclusions: the present study confirmed that oral fluralaner treatment should be considered as effective for long-term control of clinical signs in fad affected dogs. © 2016 crosaz et al.