Molluscum contagiosum is a fairly common disease of viral origin. Moreover, this disease affects mainly children of preschool age. Therefore, many parents are interested in questions about how a mollusk looks like in a child, what are the causes of the disease. So is it possible to get rid of the disease?
Molluscum in a child: causes of the disease
As already mentioned, the cause of the disease is a virus that is transmitted both through close contact with an infected person and through the air. In addition, a household route of infection is quite possible, for example, when sharing toys, towels, bed linen, clothes, etc. You can also catch an infection when visiting public pools, showers or baths. The state of the human immune system also matters - the stronger it is, the less likely the appearance of skin lesions. That is why molluscum contagiosum is diagnosed much more often in children than in adults, which is associated with the development of immunity.
Shellfish in children: photos and symptoms
Of course, every parent at least once in their life faced with the problem of a rash in their baby. However, the mollusk on the skin of a child is quite easy to distinguish from allergic rashes, rubella, chickenpox and other diseases. As a rule, with a similar disease, small blisters of flesh, whitish or pink color appear on the skin. Most often, the rash affects the skin of the face, neck, shoulders, abdomen, hands, thighs, and sometimes the genital area. Pimples can have different sizes - sometimes they are almost invisible, but often their diameter can reach two centimeters. In some cases, adjacent rashes merge with edges, forming rather large lesions. Molluscum contagiosum in a child is extremely rarely accompanied by itching, burning, or any discomfort. That is why the disease is most often diagnosed at later stages of development.
Molluscum contagiosum in a child: how to get rid of the rash?
If there is a similar rash, the child should be taken to a dermatologist. Naturally, first you need to conduct tests to confirm the presence of a viral infection. However, if you gently squeeze the pimple with tweezers, a small amount of whitish liquid will flow out of it. It should be noted right away that the mollusk in a child is extremely contagious, therefore, for the duration of treatment, it is worth limiting the contact of the patient with other children. Fortunately, modern methods of medicine help to quickly cure such a disease. The child is prescribed immunomodulatory drugs that enhance the activity of the immune system. In addition, it is necessary to clean the baby's skin from the rash:
- In some cases, cryotherapy methods are used - each pimple is cauterized with liquid nitrogen. The procedure is extremely unpleasant, but the use of local anesthesia minimizes discomfort.
- Today, laser removal is becoming more and more popular, as it is more effective and causes much less damage to the skin.
- After removal, crusts remain on the skin, which in no case should you try to remove on your own - you need to wait until they fall off by themselves. In addition, the skin must be treated with special gels that speed up the recovery process, as well as neutralize the viral infection.
