Molluscum Contagiosum

May 23, 2018, 04:14 PM

Sounds like a curse that Harry Potter would utter, doesn't it?

But it's real. It's a disease. Before today I'd never heard of it, but we just learned that my granddaughters have it. The CDC article on it is at this LINK. Apparently there's an outbreak of it happening in Utah.

It's related to Chicken Pox/Small Pox. But unlike the childhood diseases we all had back in the 1950s and 1960s (Chicken Pox, Measles, Mumps, et. al.), this one doesn't run its course in a couple of weeks. It takes FOUR YEARS! for this one. The girls are five and two years old now; they'll be nine and six years old by the time they're shed of the disease.

So, having never encountered Molluscum Contagiosum before, I have some questions for the Sig Forum Brain Trust:

Is this truly just a four-year long annoyance, a prolonged childhood disease that my family has been blessed not to have encountered before, or is it more serious and threatening?

What have you done/do you recommend doing (as a family with members who have the disease) to make it easier/better to get through the disease period and ensure that the girls are healthy and happy on the other side of the experience?

Your advice is appreciated.

May 23, 2018, 04:22 PM

dusty3030

My son had it on the back of his legs.

There was a medicated oil they prescribed.

Biggest thing they told us is treat any itching to keep him from scratching. He was a toddler and I don't recall it really lasting all that long. Six months to maybe an year?

It really wasn't a bother and it did't seem to bother him. He had / has bad allergies and the eczema from the allergies was way more a bother to us all than this was.

May 23, 2018, 04:27 PM

myrottiety

quote:
Molluscum Contagiosum

Jesus christ the photos look itchy. Reminds me of the Hand Foot Mouth I caught as an adult. Only had a break out on my feet. But they looked like a burn victims feet.

May 23, 2018, 04:28 PM

12131

quote:
- Is this truly just a four-year long annoyance, a prolonged childhood disease that my family has been blessed not to have encountered before, or is it more serious and threatening?
Duration varies, from a few months to a couple of years, and is a self-limited viral skin infection. Not serious or life threatening.

- What have you done/do you recommend doing (as a family with members who have the disease) to make it easier/better to get through the disease period and ensure that the girls are healthy and happy on the other side of the experience?
As noted above, nothing needs done. But, if it bothers the family that much, go see a dermatologist. The lesions can be removed by liquid nitrogen, by scraping, by laser, or by certain acids such as tricholoroacetic acid.

May 23, 2018, 05:12 PM

rduckwor

It is contagious though. Viral in origin.

RMD

May 23, 2018, 05:22 PM

Rey HRH

Holy smokes. Yet, another thing that makes me want to isolate myself from people.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

May 23, 2018, 10:08 PM

delta 2

I cured that myself. Look for products like wart removers that contain salicylic-acid. Put that on each bump and it will stop it from spreading. I got rid of it in a week.

May 23, 2018, 10:15 PM

smithnsig

quote:
Originally posted by delta 2:
I cured that myself. Look for products like wart removers that contain salicylic-acid. Put that on each bump and it will stop it from spreading. I got rid of it in a week.

That sounds more like Menudo Fungoliosis

May 23, 2018, 10:22 PM

tatortodd

Never heard of it. I read the CDC link and it's an all ages disease not just a childhood disease.

May 24, 2018, 01:05 AM

12131

quote:
Originally posted by rduckwor:
It is contagious though.
RMD

The name contagiosum kind of hints at that nature.

Saw a lot of these, when I was still doing Pedi. Yes, it is seen adults, also, especially in immunocompromised hosts (like HIV), but Pedi is where it loves to play.

May 24, 2018, 07:08 AM

rduckwor

quote:
Originally posted by 12131:
quote:
Originally posted by rduckwor:
It is contagious though.
RMD

The name contagiosum kind of hints at that nature.

Saw a lot of these, when I was still doing Pedi. Yes, it is seen adults, also, especially in immunocompromised hosts (like HIV), but Pedi is where it loves to play.

RMD