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PEDIATRICS

■ Systemic antihistamines for pruritis

■ Oral antibiotics if superimposed skin infection

COMPLICATIONS

Complications include increased risk for bacterial or viral skin infections. Super-

infection with herpes simplex virus (eczema herpeticum) can be life threatening.

Molluscum Contagiosum

■ Poxvirus

■ Self-limited skin lesions, typically lasting weeks to months

■ Peak incidence: School-age children

■ Transmission: Direct contact

SYMPTOMS/EXAM

■ Small, flesh-colored papules that have a centrally depressed area

(umbilicated papule, see Figure 5.5).

■ Painless, and usually asymptomatic

■ Typically affect face, torso, and extremities (sparing palms, soles, and

scalp)

■ No systemic symptoms

DIAGNOSIS

Clinical diagnosis is based on the morphology of the lesions.

FIGURE 5.4. Eczema.

(Reproduced, with permission, from Shah BR, Lucchesi M. Atlas of Pediatric Emergency

Medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006:303.)