A comparative study of topical cantharidin and intralesional PPD to treat molluscum contagiosum.

Background

The immune system plays an important part in the clearance of molluscum contagiosum (MC) and, therefore, there has lately been a trend in using immunotherapy in MC therapy. Tuberculin-purified protein derivatives (PPDs) and topical cantharidin have not earlier been compared with their effectiveness in therapyAim: The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness and security of intralesional immunotherapy in the therapy of MC with tuberculin PPD versus topical cantharidinPatients and methods: Twenty patients with various MC lesions received topical cantharidin as control (group A) and 20 MC patients received intralesional tuberculin PPD following prior intradermal immunity tests (group B‏).

Results

Complete clearance of lesions was detected in 90.0% of patients in the cantharidin group; the partial response was detected in10.0% of the patients. However, in the PPD group, 85% of the patients showed a complete response and 15% showed a partial response, with no significant difference in the clinical response between the two groups. Mild side effects were detected‏.

Conclusion

The results suggest that intralesional PPD and topical cantharidin 0.7% are effective and safe treatment modalities, but benefits of intralesional PPD is being a simple, effective and safe treatment with tolerable pain and can be an alternative treatment for multiple resistant types‏.