Reviewed by Dr David Delvin, GP and family planning specialist
What is molluscum contagiosum?
Molluscum contagiosum is a viral infection of the skin. It appears as small, pearl-shaped spots, which are whitish or pink or brown in colour.
Typically, they have a small indentation or ‘dimple’ on the top. The bumps occur in localised crops.
Molluscum can occur at any age but is frequently found in children, who often have skin contact with each other through sharing baths and beds.
However, in recent years an increasing number of young adults with molluscum contagiosum have been seen at genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics. The figures have more than doubled during the last 10 years.
It's not a serious disease and usually clears up within a few months. It can occasionally last for up to two years.
How do you contract molluscum contagiosum?
It is an infection caused by a virus called poxvirus.
There are now known to be four varieties of this virus, but they all produce similar symptoms.
The infection can result from direct contact, including sexual contact, or by indirect contact, such as sharing towels, or possibly from swimming pools.
In adults, the virus is often caught from a sexual partner, and this is particularly likely when the pearly lesions are found on the penis, or round the vulva.
The symptoms of molluscum contagiosum
- Skin-coloured, pearl-like spots on the face, arms and legs or trunk, which can be 1 to 5mm in diameter, or sometimes larger.
- If the infection is sexually transmitted, the molluscum may be seen on the genitals, thighs and the lower part of the abdomen.
- See a doctor.
- Don’t squeeze the bumps.
- Be patient – the condition will pass.
- Wash your hands after touching the spots.
- Do not share towels used on the infected area with other people.
- Avoid scratching because this may cause further infection.
How does the doctor make the diagnosis?
The diagnosis is made by examining the patient's skin; to an experienced medic, the appearance is characteristic.
This is a benign condition that spontaneously improves after a couple of months.
But in patients with AIDS, it may develop as a gradually spreading skin infection.
How is molluscum contagiosum treated?
- Usually no treatment is needed, since the disease disappears by itself.
- Larger and troublesome molluscum lesions can be frozen or scraped away under local anaesthesia. However, this treatment is not pleasant for children.
- Antiseptic applied to the affected areas is helpful only if local infection occurs – which shows up as painful red or dark areas around the molluscum spots.
Other people also read:
When your child goes to hospital: Understanding its effect on children.
Bringing up children: What will good communication teach children?
Based on a text by Dr Hanne Korsholm
Last updated 19.05.2015