Molluscum contagiosum is a viral infection that causes small, raised sores or bumps on the skin . The pathophysiology of molluscum contagiosum is as follows .
Transmission:
- The molluscum contagiosum virus is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact or indirect contact with contaminated objects.
- The virus can be inoculated along a line of minor skin trauma, resulting in lesions arranged in a linear pattern.
- Autoinoculation can occur through scratching or shaving over the lesions.
Etiology:
- The molluscum contagiosum virus is a member of the Poxviridae family and is an unclassified virus.
- The virus replicates in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells, producing cytoplasmic inclusions and enlargement of infected cells.
- The virus infects only the epidermis, and the initial infection occurs in the basal layer.
Infection:
- The incubation period is usually 2-7 weeks, but can be as long as 6 months.
- The virus causes cellular proliferation, leading to lobulated epidermal growths that compress epidermal papillae.
- The basal layer remains intact, and cells at the core of the lesion show the greatest distortion and are ultimately destroyed.
- Large hyaline bodies (molluscum bodies) containing cytoplasmic masses of virus material are present in large numbers.
Viral Characteristics:
- Molluscum contagiosum is a DNA poxvirus and is largely, if not exclusively, a disease of humans.
- The poxviruses are a large group of viruses with a high molecular weight and are especially adapted to epidermal cells.
- Molluscum contagiosum virus has been grown in human foreskin grafted to athymic mice but not in other laboratory animals.
Epidemiology:
- Molluscum contagiosum is a common infection throughout the United States and accounts for approximately 1% of all skin disorders diagnosed.
- The prevalence rate in patients with HIV is reported to be 5-18%, and the severity of infection is inversely related to the CD4 T-lymphocyte count.
- The virus occurs throughout the world, and its incidence in most areas is not reliably known, but it is more prevalent in tropical areas.
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