Diseases

There are a wide range of home remedies available for this disease. People have tried remedies such as apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, alcohol, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, and elderberry extract. Unfortunately, there is little data to support these remedies although some claim to cure the disease. Some are easily available at pharmacies (for example, ZymaDerm). Duct tape occlusion treatment has been suggested by some clinicians. Patients should discuss the situation with their doctor before trying these remedies.

Presumptive diagnosis is based on the person's history and physical exam. A skin biopsy or tissue scraping that shows the viral infection is a definitive diagnosis usually made by a pathologist. This definitive diagnosis is sometimes helpful to distinguish molluscum contagiosum from other skin problems like herpes, genital warts (HPV), hives, or folliculitis.

The skin lesions last about six to 12 months although some individuals have had lesions last up to four years. Once the lesions spontaneously resolve, the person is not contagious; the contagious period is quite variable and depends on when the lesions resolve.

It is possible to reduce the chance of getting the disease by avoiding any direct skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. Contact with items touched recently by an infected person (clothing, towels, and benches, for example) should also be avoided. Either not having sexual contact (genital or oral) or using condoms can prevent some individuals from getting the disease, but if the condom does not cover an infected area, it's still possible to infect a sex partner.

With part of its name being contagiosum, you can be sure it is contagious. The virus is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact and by indirect contact (for example, towels touched by an infected person may allow the virus to pass from the towel to another person's skin.

The first signs and symptoms of molluscum contagiosum are small painless papules (raised bumps or lumps) on the skin. It often appears as a raised, pearly pinkish nodule or redness on the skin; some nodules contain a dimple in the center. Most lesions are small, about 2-5 mm in diameter. Inside the nodule, sometimes there is a cheesy whitish core. The lesions may become itchy, sore, and reddened if scratched. The lesions can appear anywhere on the body (face, mouth, genital area, penis, or vagina, for example). The skin lesions may go through three stages; the first is a small whitish and/or reddish bump on the skin. Over a few weeks, the bumps can enlarge to about 2-5 mm with a whitish pus head that develops into a small crater when it bursts (stage 2; patients are advised not to attempt "popping" these pus-containing bumps or pimples). Stage 3 is when the burst craters develop into reddish sores that can be infected with other organisms (secondary infections).

The highest risk factor is when an uninfected person touches a skin lesion on an infected person's skin or contacts an item such as a towel that was recently used by an infected person. People with weakened immune systems are at risk for getting the infection and having it rapidly spread with larger lesions. Other people at high risk are wrestlers, swimmers, gymnasts, and people who use steam baths and saunas. It's also possible to transmit the infection sexually. It is theoretically possible to become in contact and be infected with the virus from a toilet seat, but this has not been documented.

The cause is a virus, molluscum contagiosum virus, a member of the poxvirus family. The virus only survives in the skin, and when the lesions are gone, the person no longer is contagious.

Pictures of molluscum contagiosum; SOURCE: CDC Molluscum contagiosum is a mild skin disease caused by a virus of the poxvirus type (molluscum contagiosum virus) that causes painless small bumps on the skin. The disease occurs worldwide but is more prevalent in warm, humid climates. The disease is usually not serious and in most people resolves in about six to 12 months without treatment. It is a common infection in children; direct person-to-person contact, sexual contact, and contaminated items like clothing, towels, or other objects may transmit the infection. Some consider it to be a sexually transmitted disease (STD), but many others simply consider it to be a skin disease that is contagious by any skin-to-skin and indirect incidental contact with the infecting virus.

The average time from exposure to symptoms (incubation period) is about two to seven weeks and may be as long as six months in some individuals.

Most people who get molluscum contagiosum have an excellent prognosis because the infection is usually self-limiting; it typically affects only the skin and resolves without treatment over about six to 12 months in most people. However, immunosuppressed people have a more guarded prognosis as the disease may persist for years and become widespread on the skin; some people may get secondary bacterial skin infections; the major complication of the disease. Some treatments listed above (cryotherapy, curettage, laser, and some chemical treatments) may leave small scars. Even if you get the disease and are cured, you can be reinfected and get the disease again.

For most patients, no treatment is needed because the lesions spontaneously disappear in about six to 12 months, although for a few, it may take up to four years. Discuss any treatment method with a doctor. Cryotherapy (freezing), curettage (cutting out the lesions), and laser therapy also may remove lesions. In addition, creams that include podophyllin, salicylic acid, tretinoin (Retin A, Atralin, Renova, Avita, Altinac), and cantharidin may remove lesions. An antiviral medication (Valtrex) has been used treat the disease. Physicians may use cimetidine (Tagamet) to treat molluscum contagiosum in small children. A new medication, imiquimod (Aldara), helps to strengthen the skin's immune response and may help to get rid of the lesions in some people. Topical desonide cream (a low-dose corticosteroid) reduces any symptoms that may accompany scratching the nodules. Some physicians may treat the disease with topical anti-inflammatory medications like diclofenac gel.

Although primary-care providers and pediatricians can treat this disease, consultants like dermatologists, infectious-disease specialists, and pathologists may be consulted for diagnosis and treatment.