Generalized warts and immune deficiency.

A case of common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia with associated impairment of cell mediated immunity and severe wart virus infection is described. The defect of cell mediated immunity is thought to have predisposed this patient to the development of persistent wart infection which in turn grossly depressed the body's cellular immunity and thus allowed widespread dissemination of the warts. The rapid restoration of cell mediated immunity which followed the reduction in the antigenic load of wart virus by diathermy treatment was followed by the spontaneous regression of all the patient's warts. This unusual case may provide some insight into the complex relationship between wart virus infection and the immune system of the host.