Description:

• Raised, round, smooth-surfaced bumps
• Waxy or skin colored
• Indent at the center
• Firm, white material (usually many different sizes)
• Occasionally itchy, not painful
• Found on just one area of the body

Cause:

• Caused by poxvirus
• It is transmitted skin-to-skin contact by an infected person
• Ages 2-12 years old are most likely to be infected
• Molluscum can spread to other parts of the body by auto-inoculation (when a child picks a bump and scratches elsewhere)
• Molluscum can spread rapidly and last longer in kids who also have eczema

Treatment:

• Most molluscum disappear without treatment in 6-18 months
• If repeatedly picked at, molluscum can become infected and change into impetigo, which will need treated different
• Treatment, if the best option, may be unsuccessful or need to be repeated
• Molluscum can be destroyed by freezing or burning with a mild acid
• Treatment could also include scraping out the core of the molluscum
• There is no successful at home treatment for molluscum
• However, any of those treatments can cause more irritation and even scarring and are rarely effective