Molluscum contagiosum

[purplehaze]

Hello, I have just returned from a hospital appointment for my son (15) and he has Molluscum contagiosum. I was just wondering if anyone has heard of it or had it?

 

 

Apparently young children get it, it's viral and you can catch it. People are more likely to be affected by molluscum contagiosum if their immune system is damaged. My son has had it for months now on his face.

 

Any info/advice would be interesting and welcomed-thanks xxxx

[Stella63]

OMG that name immediately brought back memories!!!

 

OJ had this when he was maybe 5 or 6 (I can't really remember!). There was no way of stopping them and at times he was covered in them. I seem to think we used creams if they were itchy or sore. I was told it was viral and would last no longer than 2 years, and literally to the day they just disappeared and he will never get them again.

 

I had no info about the immune system and this was years before he was dx'ed with anything but he had a weak immune system as a baby and suffered febrile convulsions until he was 3.

 

If I think of anything else I will let you know. I was told it wasn't catching.

 

Stella xx

[call me jaded]

DS had it last year! Looked like chickenpox to begin with so we dragged him down to the GP. They printed off an info sheet that we took into school. We sent him in with his own towels as there was some suggestion that it might be contagious. It went away after about 4 weeks.

[purplehaze]

 

 

Thanks guys-I have never heard of it before and I work with children!!!!!

My son has had it about 6months, it is like a beard and all around his eyes-one eye has very dry skin as well.

 

I find it weird that he is 15 and mostly children or ill people get it (cancer, Aids etc) as adults. I've been trying to stop him from picking them as he makes them bleed(he even picks at freckles) but the Doctor said he should pick them to get the puss out-so now i'm worried about hygiene-he isn't the cleanest child

 

Apparently most people are naturally resistant to it but it is contagious to those who may have lower imunity.

 

Does anyone know any adults or teenagers that have had it.

[call me jaded]

Yes he was 14 when he had it. His immune system is rubbish.

[purplehaze]

Thanks-that has made me feel better-although I knida feel like 6months is a long time to have a virus thingy. Thanks xxxx

[Stella63]

Hi

 

They just had a bit about it on Embarrasing Teenage Bodies tonight - didn't say too much, but it was a 15 year old girl with it on her arms - they recommended she had them frozen, like they do verrucas.

 

Stella xx

[sadie]

DS had them too, aged about 10. He caught them just as he was recovering from an extremely bad bout of impetigo....his immune system was compromised by the impetigo I presume. Just one thing after another LOL

[puffin]

M had it when she was 8 - it took around 18 months for it to disappear completely

[something_different]

its actually quite common, apparantly nettle soap helps, but I don't know as I have never had it.

[purplehaze]

Hi thanks for info guys it helps to know others have had it and it goes away.

 

Sadie-My son also gets impetigo and has had a few cases of it (more than average)

 

 

It makes me wonder about the immune system

 

XXXXXXXX

 

[joybed]

I used to work in a GU medicine department and it was of the things we treated occasionally. It isn,t strictly sexually transmitted but it can be due to close bodily contact. It is very contagious and you will need to make sure he uses his own towel and avoids close physical contact with anyone. We used to treat with freezing or breaking the scab and applying phenol i think it was, neither very pleasant. It does however usually clear itself but takes a while. I also am not sure about the immune system and none of the patients i nursed with it were HIV positive we had a few children and the others were adults who came for another problem and then when asked about the rash admitted they had had it for a while.

[frogslegs]

Hi there,

Found info on this site.

Hope it helps,

Mel

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Molluscum-...in-Children.htm

[purplehaze]

Thanks for the info guys

 

The Doc did tell us about freezing if it gets worse but said it can be painful so didn't want to go down that route.

 

My son doesn't show much affection (if any spontaneouly) so now I know what it is I'm not worried that much about getting it and I have to lay towels out for him to bath or wash and have too tell him to wash his hands etc so that should also be easy to keep under control.

 

What I would be really interested in knowing is if my son's immune system is low. He has IBS symptoms and has as long as I can remember. The autism research unit tested him and told me there was a high chance that he had problems with gluten. Does anyone know if this could have something to do with the immune system. When they tested him they asked lots of different questions and one was about if he had impetigo and things like that-which he has had lots of times. I have mentioed this to my Doctor but he said it wasn't proven.

 

Does anyone know much about colieac (not sure how to spell it) and why don't Doctors test people with IBS symptoms?

 

I'm proberly just jumping to conclusions but hey ho!

 

 

[joybed]

I was looking on the internet last night about coeliac for myself. i have suffered from IBS since I was in my early twenties and have suffered on and off from a low iron/ ferritin level. I also get urticaria really badly. I was looking up low ferritin and it suggested it could be a malabsorption problem. A while ago I spoke to someone at the autism research unit about Piers as he was lactose intolerant as a baby and I was considering trying the diet, he asked about my health and suggetsed i could have a problem with gluten/ dairy. A nutritional therapist has also diagnosed this in the past. I am however worried about going to my GP as I have been to her so many times pushing for referrals for the boys i am worried she will think i am just a worrier (maybe i am) but the symptoms are there. My sister has chrohns disease and is awaiting surgery at the moment. DH didn,t want to get DS2 tested as he felt the diet is too hard to stick to we tried with Marcus, it wasn,t difficult for us just my mum but she doesn,t have much to do with the other 2 so shouldn,t be a problem. Hope you get some answers i would be interested to know how you are getting on.

[Mum of 3]

Hi my nephew had his for about 2 years when he was about 4-6. They called it 'catching snails' (not that they're Latin scholars or anything... ), which at least makes it sound a bit more friendly!

I don't think my sister managed to treat him successfully, but they disappeared without treatment.

Would tea tree oil help stop them spreading (as it's anti-viral)?

[purplehaze]

Mum of 3-I will try tea tree oil it may keep it clean-thanks

 

joybed-I will def keep you informed if I go to the Docs

[Mum of 3]

Mum of 3-I will try tea tree oil it may keep it clean-thanks

 

Take care if you've not used it on your ds before-it can be used neat, but it may irritate senstive skin. If in doubt, dilute it with some other oil-such as grapeseed, apricot kernel or even olive oil.

[BillyX]

Tea tree oil will kill any infection, it will also give temporary pain relief. However ...... carefull applying any other oils to the skin, they will attract dirt and offer a den for infection. Remember tea tree oil is an essential oil and not even in the same family as nut oils wich are lipids.

 

There I have said enough .... Tea tree oil,by far the best sugestion.

[purplehaze]

Thanks.

 

his face has got very itchy and dry around his eye-the Doctor said to put moisturiser cream on it but i'm wary of it being so close to his eye-any suggestions.

 

[Mum of 3]

so long as it's a gentle moisturiser (try one specially formulated for people with excema), it should be ok. I put moisturiser all over my face and eyelids twice a day and have no adverse effects! (slightly puffy eyes some mornings if the cream's too rich! )

[purplehaze]

Thanks

I think i'm going to try E45 cream,

 

he has picked the ones around his eyes a lot last night as well and they have bled. I wish the Doctor hadn't told him to pick & sqeeze the spots, I don't think it is helping-it looks much worse now. X

 

 

[Mum of 3]

I wish the Doctor hadn't told him to pick & sqeeze the spots, I don't think it is helping-it looks much worse now. X

 

Iwould have thought that picking at them would just spread them arund even more

[purplehaze]

Apparently our local nurse has told my friend (who asked about it) that Doctors use to suggest squeezing the spots to get the white puss out as they would heal quicker but it isn't reccomended now!!!!!

 

But i'm not sure as it was a Dermatologist consultant at the hospital who told us my son should squeeze them and get the white squirmy stuff out. The E45 cream seems to be helping and he hasn't picked them since using the cream-so thats good.

[invent 10 things b4 breakfast]

My son had it when he was about 6 and has still got a few on his chest - he's now 12! I was told they were highly contagious and that it was invisible to the bodies immune system, hence the suggestion to pick the spots, apparently it triggers the bodies defences into fighting it. I found that picking the spots as they came up was easier as they never formed the hard white ball inside and were instead just watery. The ones on his chest still are hard but not raised too much and not very easy to get at, so have just left them. Was never told about it being linked to the immune system. My GP had had it too and showed me the scars on her legs!