Intralesional Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine versus Formic Acid Puncture in the Treatment of Common Warts: A Prospective Randomised Study.

Abstract

Many therapeutic modalities have been reported for the treatment of warts: a common bothersome condition; however, no single treatment is completely effective. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intralesional injection of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and to compare its efficacy with 85% formic acid puncture for common warts. This was a prospective comparative study. A total of 60 patients, divided into two groups, were included in the study. Group A received an intralesional MMR vaccine of 0.3 ml per lesion, and group B received 85% formic acid puncture into each lesion with a maximum of 10 warts treated in each case. Five sessions were conducted every 2 weeks in each case with a follow-up period of 3 months to check for recurrence. The Chi-square test, Fisher's test and t-test were used for statistical analysis. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. In group A, the complete response was observed in 62.5%, partial response in 8% and no response in 4.1% of patients. In group B, the complete response was observed in 31.8%, partial response in 63.6% and no response in 4.5% of patients. The difference in cure rates was found to be statistically significant with a P value of 0.031. No recurrence was observed in both groups in the follow-up period. Immunotherapy by intralesional MMR vaccine is a simple, well-tolerated, effective and cost-benefit modality for the treatment of warts and showed a statistically significant cure rate than formic acid therapy.