Molluscum contagiosum

Molluscum contagiosum (MC), sometimes called water warts, is a

Approximately 122 million people globally were affected by molluscum contagiosum as of 2010 (1.8% of the population).[8] It is more common in children between the ages of one and ten years old.^[2] The condition has become more common in the United States since 1966.^[2] But having an infection is not a reason to keep a child out of school or daycare.^[10]

Signs and symptoms

Molluscum contagiosum lesions are flesh-colored, dome-shaped, and pearly in appearance. They are often 1–5 mm in diameter, with a dimpled center.

As the name implies, molluscum contagiosum is extremely contagious.[3] Transmission of the molluscum contagiosum virus can occur many different ways including direct skin contact (e.g., contact sports or sexual activity), contact with an infected surface (fomite), or autoinoculation (self-infection) by scratching or picking molluscum lesions and then touching other parts of the skin not previously affected by the virus.^[3] Children are particularly susceptible to autoinoculation and may have widespread clusters of lesions.^[17]

The viral infection is limited to a localized area on the topmost layer of the superficial layer of the skin.^[18] Once the virus-containing head of the lesion has been destroyed, the infection is gone. The central waxy core contains the virus.^{[citation needed]}

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is made on the appearance; the virus cannot routinely be cultured. The diagnosis can be confirmed by excisional biopsy.^{[citation needed]}

Histologically, molluscum contagiosum is characterized by molluscum bodies (also known as Henderson-Patterson bodies) in the

• 
  Low magnification micrograph of a molluscum contagiosum lesion
• 
  Low-magnification micrograph of molluscum contagiosum, H&E stain
• 
  High-magnification micrograph of molluscum contagiosum, showing the characteristic molluscum bodies, H&E stain

Management

Because molluscum contagiosum usually resolves without treatment and treatment options can cause discomfort to children, initial recommendations are often to simply wait for the lesions to resolve on their own.^[21] Of the treatments available, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials suggested that there is no difference between treatments in short term improvement, and no single treatment is significantly better than natural resolution of the condition.^[22]

Bumps located in the genital area may be treated in an effort to prevent them from spreading.^[16] When treatment has resulted in the elimination of all bumps, the infection has been effectively cured and will not reappear unless the person is reinfected.^[23]

Medications

For mild cases,

Studies have found cantharidin to be an effective and safe treatment for removing molluscum contagiosum.^[25] This medication is usually well tolerated though mild side effects such as pain or blistering are common.^[25] There is no high-quality evidence for cimetidine.^[26] However, oral cimetidine has been used as an alternative treatment for the pediatric population as it is generally well tolerated and less invasive.^[27]

Berdazimer sodium

This section is an excerpt from Berdazimer sodium.[edit]

tetraethyl silicate.^[29]

Berdazimer sodium was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2024.[30]^[31][32]

Imiquimod

• Potential adverse effects of imiquimod use: "Similar to the studies conducted in adults, the most frequently reported adverse reaction from 2 studies in children with molluscum contagiosum was application site reaction. Adverse events which occurred more frequently in Aldara-treated subjects compared with vehicle-treated subjects generally resembled those seen in studies in indications approved for adults and also included otitis media (5% Aldara vs. 3% vehicle) and conjunctivitis (3% Aldara vs. 2% vehicle). Erythema was the most frequently reported local skin reaction. Severe local skin reactions reported by Aldara-treated subjects in the pediatric studies included erythema (28%), edema (8%), scabbing/crusting (5%), flaking/scaling (5%), erosion (2%) and weeping/exudate (2%)."^{[citation needed]}
• Potential systemic absorption of imiquimod, with negative effects on white blood cell counts overall, and specifically neutrophil counts: "Among the 20 subjects with evaluable laboratory assessments, the median WBC count decreased by 1.4*10⁹/L and the median absolute neutrophil count decreased by 1.42×10⁹ L⁻¹."^[36]

Surgery

Surgical treatments include cryosurgery, in which liquid nitrogen is used to freeze and destroy lesions, as well as scraping them off with a curette. Application of liquid nitrogen may cause burning or stinging at the treated site, which may persist for a few minutes after the treatment. With liquid nitrogen, a blister may form at the treatment site, but it will slough off in two to four weeks. Cryosurgery and curette scraping can be painful procedures and can result in residual scarring.^[37]

Laser

A 2014 systematic review of

Most cases of molluscum contagiosum will clear up naturally within two years (usually within nine months). So long as the skin growths are present, there is a possibility of transmitting the infection to another person. When the growths are gone, the possibility of spreading the infection is ended.[23]

Unlike

As of 2010, approximately 122 million people were affected worldwide by molluscum contagiosum (1.8% of the population).[8]

See also

• Acrochordons
  (also called skin tags—similar in appearance and grow in similar areas)
• Basal-cell carcinoma
• human papillomavirus
  ; also similar in appearance to molluscum)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Molluscum contagiosum.

• Molluscum contagiosum—US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Virus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR): Poxviridae