This needs a correction: griseofulvin is good for ringworm, but it does nothing for scabies. They're completely different types of pathogens and need different drugs.

Ringworm (tinea/dermatophyte infection) - fungal: Griseofulvin is an oral antifungal that concentrates in keratin (skin, hair, nails) and disrupts fungal microtubule/mitotic spindle function, which is fungistatic against dermatophytes (Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton) - the fungi that cause ringworm (Goodman & Gilman's Pharmacology). It's still considered first-line for tinea capitis (scalp ringworm) in children, but for other body sites it's now largely a second-line agent because newer drugs (terbinafine, itraconazole) act faster and cure more reliably (Medical Microbiology 9e). Typical courses run 4-8 weeks for skin, 6-10 weeks for scalp, and months for nails - it's slow-acting, so "beginner treatment" isn't really accurate either; it requires long, monitored courses with fatty meals for absorption, and it's contraindicated in pregnancy.

Scabies - not a fungus, it's a mite infestation (Sarcoptes scabiei): Griseofulvin has no activity against mites at all. Standard first-line treatment is topical permethrin 5% cream applied head-to-toe (Textbook of Family Medicine, Medical Microbiology 9e). Oral ivermectin is used for treatment failures, crusted scabies, or when topical application is impractical (Red Book 2021). Older regimens used lindane, but that's largely abandoned due to neurotoxicity risk. Since scabies spreads by close contact, household/close contacts typically need simultaneous treatment.

So griseofulvin = ringworm (fungal), permethrin/ivermectin = scabies (mite). Mixing them up would leave a scabies infestation completely untreated, and there's no such thing as a universal "beginner" antifungal/antiparasitic - the two conditions need entirely different drug classes.

A quick check of recent evidence on scabies treatment confirms this and adds nuance: a 2018 systematic review/meta-analysis (JAAD) comparing ivermectin vs permethrin found permethrin generally has higher cure rates in individual studies, though ivermectin has practical advantages (oral, easier mass treatment). This aligns with the textbook guidance above - no contradiction, just useful current-evidence context.