A pilot double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled study of orally administered IFN-alpha-n1 (Ins) in pediatric patients with measles.

To determine the safety and effectiveness of low-dose oral interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) against measles, 30 confined pediatric patients were prospectively and randomly assigned to either a placebo or an oral IFN-alpha group and observed daily for 14 days in a double-blind manner. The IFN patients received a daily sublingual dose of 200 IU of human lymphoblastoid IFN-alpha. The IFN-treated group showed shorter average duration of malaise (3.