Akademik

Molluscum contagiosum

A contagious disease of the skin marked by the occurrence of rounded soft tumors of the skin caused by the growth of a virus (one that belongs to the virus family called the Poxviridae). The disease is characterized by the appearance of a few to numerous small, pearly, umbilicated downgrowths called molluscum bodies or condyloma subcutaneum. Molluscum contagiosum is mainly seen in children. In teenagers and adults it is often transmitted sexually and so may be considered a sexually transmitted disease (STD). It is a benign disorder that usually clears up by itself. The Latin "molluscus" means soft.

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molluscum con·ta·gi·o·sum -kən-.tā-jē-'ō-səm n, pl mollusca con·ta·gi·o·sa -sə a mild chronic disease of the skin caused by a poxvirus (species Molluscum contagiosum virus of the genus Molluscipoxvirus) and characterized by the formation of small nodules with a central opening and contents resembling curd

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a common disease of the skin, mainly affecting children. Characterized by papules less than 5 mm in diameter, each with a central depression, the disease is caused by a poxvirus and is spread by direct contact. Untreated, the papules disappear in 6-9 months.

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a common, benign, usually self-limited viral infection of the skin and occasionally the conjunctivae by a poxvirus, transmitted by autoinoculation, close contact, or fomites. It primarily affects children but may also be seen (often sexually transmitted) in adolescents and adults. The characteristic lesion is a flesh-colored or gray umbilicated papule that becomes white, has a caseous core, and can be expressed; it contains pathognomonic intracytoplasmic inclusions (molluscum bodies), in which replicating virions can be found.

Molluscum contagiosum.

Medical dictionary. 2011.