to be very, very upset by this?

[DizzyMum]

My dd has molluscum contagiosum. This is caused by a virus. She has spots that look like warts which then erupt and heal over before a new batch appears. It is not painful or itchy but is unslightly. She has the spots on her tummy, arms and tops of legs. The doctor says it should clear up of its own accord and no treatment is needed. Most adults are immune.

Yesterday the mother of my dds best friend, who has been avoiding us for a couple of weeks, finally admitted in an email that she did not want her dd to play with my dd anymore because she was afraid her family would catch it. The virus can last for years so she has effectively ended a five year friendship and I have no idea how to tell my dd that she won't see her best friend anymore.

If everyone behaves like this we will literally be like lepers.

[onceamai]

It's an unsightly inconvenience HCX. It has never killed a child or caused any lasting damage. I think you are overeacting. Your children must continue to learn to swim if they dont' they could drown. No child will die from a molluscum - of a verruca for that matter! PS DD had them but DS never caught them and he caught everything else from everyone else!

[fastedwina]

as I said where we were living it was very common and pools were part of every day living so guess people just accepted it or no-one would go in the water.

[HCX]

onceamai......... yeah your right i know this. I also know that DC's could continue there swimming lessons after this had gone which they did. I did mention that they didnt go swimming whilst they had this so there was no risk of drowning, they were not babies either so didnt have to worry about drowning while bathing.

Just saying my story and my point thats all, just like you. HCx

[fastedwina]

it can take well over a year to clear though - long time to avoid pools etc.

[JeffCapes]

Right. After HCX's rather dramatic posts... I've done a bit of reading. The general opinion is that most people are immune to it so although sharing towels and baths is to be avoided your child does not need to be excluded from swimming/playing with children who have it.

[HCX]

yes but if you read my earlier post i said i used a cream that got rid of it in three months. was all good for my DC's. HCx

[HCX]

yes but whats the difference between a bath and a swimming pool??? Isnt it just like one huge pool??? any way ive already said i wouldnt stop my children playing with another child that has it, try reading my posts. and your right, when i told the leisure centre that my DS had got this from them they had never heard of it!! and offered me free swimming lessons for my children as compensation???? My point is that since it IS contagious especially in pools etc that it would make sence to not take the child and potentially infect others surelly!!!
Like i said i know its not a disease, just thought i might try and save other kids feeling the same as mine did at the time, thats all.

Oh by the way over reacting........... never heard of a child drowning in fresh air before have you?? lol HCX

[HCX]

fair enough, as long as they keep up with the levels! Not all of them do and this one was no exception. So many people complained they had to do a deep clean and re-fit the changing rooms. HCx

[fastedwina]

HCX, how do you know that's where they got it from? Most people seem to let it clear on it's own which could take a long, long time - that's what I meant about it being a long time to avoid swimming. My Dc's cleared in weeks with the cream we had so people don't always have to wait that long though it took a long time till we used the cream.

[DirtyMartiniOfDoom]

Hang on, so, my DS (3) sometimes gets basically what looks like a spot with a white head on his arm. It happens on both arms, but he usually only has 1 at a time, or 2 at the very most, and there are gaps of weeks where he has none.

Could these be molluscum? He does go to nursery and picks up all sorts of stuff but I just always thought these were, well, ordinary spots. I did think it was a tiny bit odd to get spots on your arms though (or indeed anywhere at all when you are 3).

[fastedwina]

might be and it could spread. It always just starts out as 1 or 2.

[HCX]

Fastedwina, yeah ok fair point. We cant be sure it was that pool, although im quite convinced as there was a long line across his cheast and under arm exactly where the float would have been (He didnt use any other swimming baths). Any way like i said your right but it is a coincidence that so many parents complained enough so that they closed and did a re-fit. HCX

[HCX]

DirtyMartiniOfDoom........ Yeah it could be. It was a long time ago when i last researched them but i think it said some thing about the first being a carrier and that once they get that the rest will deffo follow, slowly but surely.

I dont think many people know about these before there child gets it and then they find out what they are. I deffo had never heard of them till i took DS to the docs.

Dont panic,its not life threatning (like some one said earlier) my advise is to just get as much knoledge on these things as poss and read through other peoples experiences. HCX

[fastedwina]

HCX - funny - on the side and underarm is where it started with my two, wonder if that's common then.

[HCX]

Hmmmm could be Fastedwina?? dont know but my daughters first one started on her neck and then more all around, a couple on he face which was a shame cos she hated it, bless her. HCx

[witchycatsmother]

My daughter had this 3 years ago when she was almost 4. From noticing a few spots on one day, she was riddled from head to foot within 4 days. At the time I had no idea what it was - thought it was chicken pox to start - but once diagnosed scared myself stupid that no-one at nursery would want to play with her (she looked awful, they were everywhere including hands and face) and that potentially she'd look like that forever more.

Well .... we were very very lucky (appreciate not everyone is) as she only had it for 5 weeks and I'll never know for sure if it was luck or a combination of that and the treatment, but what we did (after I'd scoured the net) was bathe her every day adding handfuls of sea salt to the water, plus 3-4 drops of tea tree and lavender oils. Then I'd apply tea tree cream after all over. We were also fortunate enough to be going on holiday a few days after she broke out .... so apart from the baths she also spent a great deal of time in the sea, and the sun which I strongly suspect helped.

She would NOT let me squeeze the spots so I was amazed she cleared up so fast. The school BTW were great once I'd explained - let all the other parents know she was carrying some lurgy and no-one batted an eyelid. I'm really sorry this other mother has reacted like this - is it plain ignorance, in that she doesn't really know what the condition entails, or is she being paranoid ?

[HEXentricaGallumbits]

Oh bollocks to you lot. it's a right of passage, like lice and worms. you can't rant about it untill you've had it so many times it gets boring.

[witchycatsmother]

(wasn't carrying a lurgy !!)

[Litchick]

Would I worry if DCs mates had molloscum?
Damn right.
Would I stop them playing together or say even one word?
Hell no.

[Diziet]

I've never even heard of this! Forewarned is forearmed!!! A most educational thread.
Thanks, Dizzymum - and I hope your DD gets well soon.
At least if either of mine get anything like this I'll know it's a possibility and have some ideas what to do.
I hope none of my friends would react in the way yours did - how awful, just when some extra support would really be the thing.

[lovingthesun]

My DD had it in the summer. I used to scrap them off with my finger nail & creep into her room at night to pierce them with a needle. Beware they do bleed...All cleared up & no scars within 4 mths. I read on here you need to pop the 'king' one & then the immune system keeps in.

Explain to your 'friend' what it is...she might just be wary, they do, afterall, look a bit weird.

[melfisk]

my 8 year old dd has had some pimples (just small ones) on and around her nose for at least 6 months. Doctor advised me this is molluscum. Recently they have started to form small head and at the moment she has probably 6 spots which have popped. They look unsightly and she is becoming conscious of them. I really want to get rid of them. what can I do?

[feckwit]

Thuja! It is available from boots and is a herbal remedy. Cleared it up on my son and daughter in 10 days, we'd been trying to clear them for 6 months!