Molluscum Contagiosum Support Group

My 1 year old daughter contracted molluscum from her 5 year old cousin. My sister didn't tell me my nephew had it and I spread sunscreen on his legs, incl. his bumps. I then went on to spread sunscreen on my daughter's face. Exactly 4 weeks later, she broke out in 10 bumps on her forehead and 1 on her cheek that got bigger and bigger. I did some reading and deduced that they were prob molluscum. I got them off with apple cider vinegar taped under a bandage, which was pretty traumatic for her. 2 weeks later, by the time I got into the derm, all but one were gone with a lot of scabbing, and he gave me some differin to put on her remaining bump on her cheek.

In any case. She'd been clear for at least a week, maybe more. Then, I noticed a flesh colored bump on her finger, and more and more kept cropping up. This included a scattering of 10 white looking bumps that appeared to be under her skin. As time went on, they would turn into domed papules. I treated them with the differin, which helped them go away, but more kept cropping up. She also had a few on her calfs and forearms. Anyway, I got her into the derm 1 week after this started on her hands and she couldn't see anything at that point except 1 flesh colored bump. The derm was not convinced it was molluscum and believes it may be papular acrodermatitis or Gianotti-Crosti syndrome, which are bumps that erupt in respose to a viral infection (like molluscum), after the body clears the infection.

She instructed me to stop the differin,which was irritating her eyelid skin when she would rub her eyes, for 2 weeks and see if these bumps grew into molluscum. I think she's convinced that they are not molluscum, but I've seen what they look like when they start out (pearly flesh colored domes), and I believe this is what they are. I would love it if they were not molluscum, but I'm terrified to stop the differin b/c it's been helping. OTOH, there's no way to know unless I stop it and see.

My question is, has anyone had a child with papular acrodermatitis AFTER they clear molluscum, and how did you tell the difference? The derm kept looking for an umbilicated center, but only one of hers ever had that classic look.
Posted on 09/02/09, 09:09 pm