Use of Immunoferon in the treatment of aphthous recurrent stomatitis in children

Abstract

A controlled, randomized, therapeutic, phase III clinical trial was undertaken in 40 patients aged 1-18 with aphthous recurrent stomatitis that were seen at the Periodontics Department of the Faculty of Stomatology of the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences of Havana and at the outpatient department of “William Soler” Hospital from September 2003 to September 2004. They were divided at random in 2 treatment groups: group A (control) vitamins and chlorhexidine mouthwashes, and group B (study) that received the same treatment plus Immunoferon. The lesions were classified into minor, major or herpetifom. The most common was the minor form. The major form was observed in the oldest children and the herpetiform variety in the youngest. The duration of the disease decreased from 10.5 days to 6.2 days in the study group and from 10.6 to 8.3 in the control group. 42.1 % of the cases in group A had a good evolution against 73.7 % in the group B. The major form had the best evolution and the possibility of clinical improvement was 7 times higher in group B. In general, the percentage of patients that were grouped in the recurrence category over 3 months was much greater in group B compared with group A (57.9 % vs. 15.8 %). There were no adverse reactions to the drug.