Daughter has Molluscum

My daughter is 6 and has very bad Molluscum behind her knees, a few on top of one of her knee caps and a few on her thighs. It started a year ago with one bump on her knee. I thought it was a wart...now I know differently. Within the past 4 months, they have exploded! She also has eczema, which I know can make it worse. We went to the pediatrician and she prescribed Aldara to apply 3 times a week, only on the bumps. She also told me to continue using the Cortizone 10 every day, along with lotion to help with itching. Now...I'm wondering if this is really going to work, since I'll I've heard is that we have to "wait it out"....but it's just getting worse. It's painful for her, because of the eczema and really unsightly. I have a prescription of Diprolene for the eczema...but I'm pretty sure I shouldn't use that anymore, since it has a steroid in it and can make the molluscum worse. Can someone please answer that for me? Cause if I can use it, I will...it worked like gem on her eczema in the past, but I definitely don't want to use it if it makes the Molluscum worse. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Molluscum contagiosum is a common, benign, self limiting viral infection of the skin. It generally affects children and typically occurs in the 2-5 age group. Treatment includes physical destruction or manual extrusion of the lesions, cryotherapy, and curettage. You can get her treated for molluscum and then start with the treatment of eczema. In the meantime just keep her skin moisturized because eczema can be aggravated by dryness of skin.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.