Molluscum contagiosum

Abstract

Molluscum contagiosum, a benign cutaneous infection of children and young adults, occurs throughout the world. Infectious virions apparently are transferred from the visible lesions to the skin of susceptible persons, either by direct contact or by fomites. Circumstantial evidence suggests that this infection is transmitted between young adults during sexual intercourse. The lesions of molluscum contagiosum are usually small, firm, umbilicated papules located on exposed skin of children or on genital skin in young adults. Such lesions are pathognomonic. Molluscum lesions resolve spontaneously; however, various treatments that remove the infected epidermis may be used to minimize transmission of the disease or for cosmetic reasons. In vitro culture techniques that have been successful for other viruses fail to propagate this virus. Successful inoculations of humans were reported early in the 20th century, but attempts to repeat these experiments have failed. Consequently, precise knowledge of this infection is lacking.