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One-year experience with candida antigen immunotherapy for warts and molluscum
Mandi Maronn1, Cindy Salm, Valerie Lyon
1Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA. mmaronn@mcw.edu
Insights
Intralesional Candida antigen therapy shows promise for treating childhood molluscum contagiosum and warts. This study found significant resolution rates, suggesting a safe and effective new treatment option.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Molluscum contagiosum and warts are common viral skin infections in children.
- Current treatments can be invasive or have variable efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intralesional Candida antigen therapy for molluscum contagiosum and warts in children.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective chart review of 217 pediatric patients treated with intralesional Candida antigen.
- Follow-up via clinic visits or telephone interviews.
Main Results:
- For molluscum contagiosum, 56% achieved complete resolution and 28% partial clearing.
- For warts, 87% achieved complete resolution and 6% partial clearing.
- No serious side effects were reported, though injections caused discomfort.
Conclusions:
- Intralesional Candida antigen therapy appears to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for pediatric warts and molluscum contagiosum.
- Further research is needed to confirm efficacy, especially given concurrent therapies used.
Abstract:
Molluscum contagiosum and warts are two very common viral-induced diseases of childhood. We report our 1-year experience with intralesional candida antigen therapy for both warts and molluscum contagiosum. A retrospective chart review was performed and a total of 217 patients were identified. Follow-up was obtained either through clinic visits or telephone interviews for 25/47 molluscum patients and 55/170 wart patients. Of the molluscum patients with follow-up, 14/25 (56%) had complete resolution, 7/25 (28%) had partial clearing, and 4/25 (16%) had no improvement. For the wart patients with follow-up, 48/55 (87%) had complete resolution, 3/55 (6%) had partial clearing, and 4/55 (7%) had no improvement. It is important to note that our clearance rate may be overestimated, as many patients were also treated concurrently with liquid nitrogen or other therapies. All wart and molluscum patients experienced some discomfort at the time of injection, but no serious side effects were reported. Our experience suggests intralesional candida antigen may represent a treatment option for warts and molluscum contagiosum that is safe and effective.
