Molluscum contagiosum is not always benign

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7462.403-c

BMJ 2004;329:403 (14 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7462.403-c

Letter

Molluscum contagiosum is not always benign

EDITOR—I welcome the informative clinical review on commonskin infections in children by Sladden and Johnston.¹ However,when a Molluscum contagiosum arises in eyelid skin or even atthe eyelid margin, it is far from benign. The lesion causeschronic keratoconjunctivitis, which can be easily misdiagnosedand mistreated if the causative lesion is not identified. Vascularinfiltration and scarring of the peripheral cornea can occur.²I expect to see one or two children a year who have had a miserablefew months with a sore, photophobic and discharging eye beforereferral to the eye clinic. Under such circumstances, I am surethat prompt treatment of the eyelid lesion is indicated anda short course of topical steroid drops may be helpful.

Richard M Redmond, consultant ophthalmologist

Scarborough Hospital, Scarborough YO12 6QL richard.redmond{at}acute.sney.nhs.uk

Competing interests: None declared.

References

Sladden MJ, Johnston GA. Common skin infections in children. BMJ 2004;329: 95-9. (10 July.)[Free Full Text]
Kanski JJ. Clinical ophthalmology. 4th ed. Woburn, Md: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999: 62-3.