Baby's skin is delicate and very vulnerable. Therefore, any rashes on her look frightening. Moms and dads immediately sound the alarm, looking for the reason. Most often they "sin" on an allergic reaction, diathesis, contact dermatitis. And if all the home recipes have been tried, but nothing helps, the doctors get down to business. Sometimes the diagnosis sounds strange. One of these medical verdicts is molluscum contagiosum. What is this disease and how to treat it, says the authoritative children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky.
What it is?
There is a special smallpox virus that loves to "visit" children under 5 years old. It is at this age that babies have the weakest and most vulnerable immunity, which is still in the stage of formation. The virus infects the skin and sometimes mucous membranes. There are four types of foreign agent, two of which are more common in adults and are sexually transmitted. The other two are typical "children", they are transmitted through contact with a sick person, through common household items, toys, dishes, and so on, less often - by airborne droplets. The virus spreads when scratching and rubbing the affected skin.
Thus, molluscum contagiosum is a viral skin disease that is not as rare as it might seem at first glance.
The incubation period lasts from 2 to 8 weeks. The likelihood of infection increases significantly in hot climates and in poor sanitary conditions.
The child's body develops immunity to the virus that causes the disease, but the immunity is not permanent, and after a while the child can become infected with the skin virus again.
Symptoms
Papules appear on the areas of the skin affected by the virus. They resemble rounded nodules with pronounced swelling. The color of the rash is natural skin color or slightly pinker skin tone. In the center of the papules there is a visually well distinguishable depression, sometimes filled with a white waxy substance. Diameter - 1-2 mm, with a long course of the disease, the size of the rash can increase to 7-9 mm.
Sometimes the disease is gigantic (when the papules are larger than 2 centimeters in diameter), and quite rarely the form of the disease is defined as pedicular (with it, the papules are located on small vertical legs).
Most often, molluscum contagiosum in children affects certain parts of the body - arms, legs, trunk, face. The rash does not hurt, but itching on the skin around the papules is quite common.
Treatment according to Komarovsky
Yevgeny Komarovsky, answering questions about molluscum contagiosum, emphasizes that there is no effective cure for the virus, which is the causative agent of skin problems. In a healthy child with normal immunity, the disease will go away on its own, however, this can take quite a long time - up to several months. If you really want to save your child from these ugly papules, you can, of course, turn to the services of cosmetic surgery - the papules are plucked out, cauterized, trimmed and even removed with a laser.
But Yevgeny Komarovsky advises to think carefully before starting to torture a child because of a problem that will soon pass without a trace.
Only children with HIV infection and severe immunity disorders, often genetic, will require specific treatment. In them, a harmless mollusk can cause severe bacterial complications when papules begin to fester, become inflamed, and the foci of such inflammation will be extensive.
Among the generally accepted methods of getting rid of a viral mollusk are cryotherapy, chemical moxibustion, thermal laser exposure.
In general, molluscum contagiosum is not at all dangerous to humans, according to the statistics of practicing doctors - without any treatment, papules disappear after 12-16 months. In rare cases, it takes more than 2-3 years for the rash to completely disappear.
Tips
Rashes of molluscum contagiosum should not be dried or damaged at home, which is not sterile to avoid bacterial infection of the wounds.
Baths with celandine can contribute to recovery, but the duration of the disease does not significantly change from such procedures.
You should not try to treat the disease with antibiotics and ointments based on antibacterial drugs.
Be sure to inform the teacher or primary school teacher about the diagnosis.to prevent the widespread spread of the virus in the children's community. It is not recommended to use the communal pool.
For information on what to do with molluscum contagiosum, see the next video.
