How to stop DD catching Molluscum Contagiosum!

[mamasosa]

My 5 yo Dd has a new school friend who suffers from MC. The little girl is lovely and Dd loves having her over for play dates etc. I'm a bit concerned about my dd catching it as I've read it is quite contagious and very difficult to get rid of (some children can be infected for 4 years) Would having a shower after they've played together be sufficient in preventing her from catching it? The mother of the lovely girl has said that it's only contagious through water but after reading about it online apparently it can be passed on through sharing toys and touching. I really don't want to bring it up with the mother as I imagine it is a terrible thing to have to deal with already and I honestly do sympathize and do not want to make it worse! Has anyone's dc had this? Did they pass it on to anyone else? Any advice on how contagious it actually is and how to prevent Dd from catching it from her new friend? Appreciate any replies.

My eldest DS caught it from someone at school, and passed it on to my youngest DS by picking the 'spots' and then playing/wrestling with him.

Where are the lesions? Are they covered? It's most likely to be spread by contact with them.

NHS info:

Although MC is infectious, the chance of passing it onto others during normal activities is small.

It'snot necessary to stay away from work, school or nursery, or to stop doing activities such as swimming if you have MC.

However,you shouldtake some steps to avoid spreading the virus to other people. You should:

• avoidsqueezing or scratching the spots–as well as increasing the risk of the infection spreading, thiscan cause pain, bleeding and can lead toscarring

• keep affected areas of skin covered with clothing whenever possible–a waterproof bandage can be put over the areaif you go swimming

• avoid sharing towels, flannels and clothing

• avoid sharing baths

I think my daughter picked them up from a toilet seat as she got them at the top of her thighs and then groin. I would advise wiping the toilet seat after she uses it. Don't touch them is the main thing if you can tell your child to do that my daughter had them for 3 years.

@dementedpixie
The lesions are not covered. I think she has a few on arms and some on legs. One or two on face which have scabbed over.

@jellymaker thank you. Hadn't thought of wiping down toilet seat

Dd had them and gp advised they were only contagious in water. She did not advise covering and said the chance of dd passing them on was minimal. As far as I’m aware she didn’t pass them to any of her friends. They are weird, they didn’t cause her any pain, multiplied like mad, hung about for about a year and then all just disappeared almost overnight!

DS2 had it and didn’t pass it on to either of his brothers.

DS had it but it actually cleared up in a year and no one else got it, despite everyone telling me it would go on for years if we didn't pretty much boil wash all clothes and towels until it had gone (we are not a super clean and tidy house where we could keep that up).

My daughter had them, and I was advised to squeeze the biggest one. You need to squeeze the core out (yes, it probably was sore) and the rest just disappear.

My daughter caught MC from her friend after a sleepover, I spoke to the pharmacy and got a product called Molluderm, you paint it on the new spots, not any that have scabbed or are infected and it burns the virus off, 4 applications was it all it took, the existing spots have all gone with no new ones spreading . She is atopic which means she is susceptible to catching things like this so I've kept the product for round 2 when it happens!!!