Contagious molluscum is a disease of the skin that has a viral infectious character. During the development of the disease on the skin of a person appear rashes that look like small nodules.
These nodules have a solid or pink color, and in the center of such a pimple there is a small depression. This virus is very contagious, its spreading occurs quickly enough.
Contagious molluscum in children (see. photo) is transmitted after direct contact with an infected person, or by sharing common hygiene items and toys. In the case of adults, the process of transmission of the virus proceeds somewhat differently.
Non-observance of personal hygiene, as the main cause of the onset of the disease, is added to the person's HIV infection and disorderly sexual life, because in middle-aged and older people, the virus enters the body precisely during sexual intercourse.
Pathogenesis
Molluscum contagiosum is a benign neoplasm of the skin; the synthesis of the DNA virus occurs in the epidermis keratinocytes, after the virus is multiplied in the host cells is blocked activity of T-lymphocytes, and therefore immune cells are absent in the lesion, which explains the immune tolerance, which favors the pathogen during infection.
Causes
Why does a molluscum appear, and what is it? The causative agent of a disease called a contagious mollusk is called a DNA-containing virus, it refers to the same group as smallpox. This virus multiplies in the cytoplasm of cells that are affected by it. The carrier of the given virus can be only the person, it is transferred only by direct contact, namely:
- Contact Path. The causative agent - molluscum contagiosum - is extremely contagious and affects only the human body. He can be in a "sleeping" state for a long time in the dust. Usually, infection occurs through a person who is sick with this virus: during swimming in the pool, using general things, bed linen, hygiene products.
- Sexual way. When infected through sexual contact, the molluscum contaminates, as a rule, the genital area of a man or woman.
Children are most likely to become infected with this virus, especially those who attend pre-school institutions, a school where outbreaks can occur. It should also be noted that the current state of medicine does not yet allow completely to get rid of the molluscum contagiosum virus, immunity to the disease is also not formed. The causes of recurrence of the disease is a decrease in immunity, which causes activation of the virus.
Symptoms of molluscum contagiosum
The disease manifests itself 2 weeks after infection. It is through this time interval that the first symptoms of the molluscum contagios appear. In rare cases, the incubation period is delayed, and the first signs in children or adults occur in a few months.
In the case of molluscum contagiosum, the main symptom is the formation on the human skin of raised nodules of a hemispherical shape. Their color coincides with the shade of the skin. In the middle of the nodule, there is a slight depression. The size of the lesions may vary. From small rashes they turn into large nodules, the diameter of which can be 1-1.5 cm. With an uncomplicated course of the disease, 1 to 20 nodules develop, they do not bother or hurt. However, with mechanical damage, they can swell, blush, itch and become inflamed, especially when the infection is drifting.
Areas of rashes depend on how the infection occurred. Most often, the skin is affected by the virus in the neck, eyelids, forehead, chest, back of the hand, mucous and skin around the genitals, the perineum, the inner thighs. Rarely the disease affects the sole, palms.
Complications
In most cases, the disease has a favorable course, but do not completely exclude possible complications:
- The appearance of multiple rashes with large elements, whose diameter can reach several centimeters. Such a complication of the infectious mollusk is typical for persons with a decreased immune status, for example, for HIV patients.
- Attached infections are bacterial in naturea. In this case, dermatitis (inflammatory process) develops, after curing of which on the skin may remain unsightly scars.
It should be borne in mind that the occurrence of molluscum contagiosum in a child may indicate problems in the immune system or about hidden infections. Therefore, the baby is recommended to carefully examine to identify pathologies that served as a starting point for the development of the disease.
Molluscum contagiosum: photos
How does a molluscum contagiosum look like, and what is it - we propose to view detailed photos of the rashes.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis of molluscum contagiosum in children and adults is usually performed by a dermatologist on the basis of a general examination. Rashes in this disease have a characteristic appearance, in connection with which additional diagnostic methods are not required.
With self-diagnosis at home, there is often confusion with symptoms of chicken pox, varieties of syphilis, genital warts, so it is necessary to contact specialists.
Treatment of molluscum contagiosum
In many cases, the removal of molluscum contagiosum is not required - it disappears by itself, without treatment. The "life" of the papule is approximately 2-3 months. However, in severe cases, the disease can last up to 4 years (an average of 6 to 18 months), since it occurs a constant process of self infection and neoplasms appear even before old nodules disappear.
Until the rash completely disappears, patients are advised not to use saunas, do not visit swimming pools and gyms, do not resort to the services of masseurs. In everyday life - clearly separate personal belongings and public, after sexual intercourse necessarily take a shower and put a partner in the fame about his illness.
In adults, various methods of cauterization are used as the main methods of treating molluscum contagiosum - chemical (iodine, hydrogen peroxide, celandine, acids), thermal (laser, diathermocoagulation, cryotherapy) and others. Selection of the method in a particular case depends on the location and abundance of rashes, as well as the recurrence of the manifestation of the disease.
In the presence of a very large number of nodules (generalized forms of molluscum contagiosum) should be prescribed antibiotics of the tetracycline series (tetracycline, oletetrin, metacyclin, doxycycline, chlortetracycline). During the entire period of therapy, medical supervision by a dermatovenereologist is carried out.
Contagious molluscum in children: treatment of Komarovsky
What to do, and how to treat molluscum contagiosum in children will tell the famous pediatrician Komarovsky.
Folk remedies
How to treat? To dry the skin, which contributes to the rapid disappearance of pathological foci formed by the mollusk, several means are used to choose:
- tincture of a string or bird cherry;
- gruel from fresh ground leaves of bird cherry as a compress;
- solution of potassium permanganate for rubbing the affected areas;
- infusion of celandine (both alcoholic and aqueous);
- juice of garlic (used as a home method of cauterization).
Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the treatment of a shellfish on the skin without an established diagnosis and at home is dangerous, and this is caused by certain risk factors:
- there is a danger of missing a serious skin disease, such as malignant or benign neoplasms on the skin.
- some forms of molluscum contagios occur in conjunction with AIDS, so in such cases special forms of treatment are required.
In this regard, use only national means for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum is possible only after consultation with a dermatologist, making sure of the accuracy of the diagnosis.
Prognosis and prevention
Self-healing is possible, but with the spontaneous disappearance of external manifestations, it is possible to transfer the virus to the low-active stage and reactivate it when immunity decreases. Complex treatment allows you to get rid of the disease, but does not prevent re-infection, because immunity with this infection is not produced.
After the competent removal of nodules or their independent regression, the skin is cleared. If this does not damage the deep dermal layers, scars are not formed. But with the development of molluscum contagiosum against atopic dermatitis, eczema and some other dermatological diseases, healing can occur with scarring.
Prevention of the disease is as follows:
- intelligibility in the choice of sexual partners;
- early detection of the disease;
- timely treatment of patients and their partners;
- full observance of hygiene rules (daily shower with change of underwear, weekly change of bed linen);
- careful regular examination of the skin of children who go to the gardens, day nursery, schools.
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