Treatment with methisazone of complications following smallpox vaccination.

The therapeutic effect of methisazone was studied in a group of 50 children who were suffering from infective complications of smallpox vaccination, such as ectopic primary lesions of the orbit, face, or mouth, eczema vaccinatum, and vaccinia. In 16 children with ectopic lesions who were treated with methisazone by mouth in total doses of 3·2-14·0 g., the mean healing time was 13·3 days, compared with 17·8 days in a control group of 23 similarly infected children who were not treated with methisazone. The difference did not attain significance, but there was a highly significant difference (p<0·01) in the number of cases in which healing occurred within 6 days (13 in the methisazone group and 6 in the control group). In 5 children accidental infection with vaccinia occurred, though antivaccinial γ-globulin had been given 5-10 days previously. Methisazone was also given to 4 children with eczema vaccinatum and 2 with localized vaccinia gangrenosa. The treatment appeared to be beneficial in comparison with control groups of 3 and 2 children, respectively, but the groups were too small for precise assessment. Methisazone appeared to accelerate the healing of the lesions in 3 children when applied locally.