Infectious Diseases Search
Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases
molluscum%20contagiosum
MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM
Molluscum contagiosum is an infection due to poxvirus that results into discrete skin lesions with central umbilication.
Spread is by skin-to-skin contact, fomites spread and autoinoculation.
Patients with atopic dermatitis, HIV or immunodeficiency are particularly susceptible.
Incubation period may be from 2-7 weeks.
In children, it usually presents with lesions on the face, scalp, ears, trunk and extremities and crural folds while in adults, it is typically sexually transmitted and affects the groin, genital area, thighs and lower abdomen.

Molluscum%20contagiosum Diagnosis

Physical Examination

  • Usually asymptomatic, smooth, flesh-colored, firm round papules w/ central umbilication where cheesy materials can be expressed
  • Large lesions may present as polypoid growths w/ a stalk-like base
  • Lesion size is usually 2-6 mm in diameter
  • Lesions may be grouped together in a small area (often in linear arrangement-pseudo-Kobner) or may become more widely spread
    • 10% of patients develop eczematous dermatitis which resolves as the infection clears
  • May be pruritic & inflammed in the presence of pyogenic infection or in immune-suppressed state
  • Papules may occur anywhere in the body w/ predilection to the face, neck, axilla, cubital creases, thighs & genitoanal region but the palms & soles spared
  • Conjunctivitis & corneal lesions may be part of the complications

Laboratory Tests

Laboratory Findings

  • Fluorescent antibody technique identifies MCV antigen
Histological Exam
  • May be used if clinical presentation is not diagnostic
  • Central core of lesion can be expressed, smeared & stained on a slide to demonstrate brick-like inclusion bodies
  • Skin punch biopsy findings of eosinophilic viral inclusion bodies (molluscum bodies/Henderson-Paterson bodies) on the stratum corneum
Digital Edition
Asia's trusted medical magazine for healthcare professionals. Get your MIMS Infectious Diseases - Malaysia digital copy today!
Sign In To Download
Editor's Recommendations
Most Read Articles
COVID-19 pandemic causes drop in cardiovascular diagnostic testing
3 days ago
Diagnosis of heart diseases has abruptly and significantly decreased across the globe due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, especially affecting poorer countries, reveals a study.
Pfizer and BioNTech are testing 4 novel vaccines in Europe and US.
Pank Jit Sin, 13 May 2020
A trial vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 is underway with the first US participants being dosed in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial. Known as the BNT162 vaccine programme, the trials are a collaboration between Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, and is part of a global development programme with Germany and the US taking the lead in having the first cohorts to be vaccinated. Germany started the study 1 week earlier.