ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case study of a 38-year-old woman. A 38-year-old woman is admitted to hospital with a 6-week history of increasing shortness of breath on exertion, fever, dry cough, malaise and weight loss. She looks unwell and is breathless at rest, her temperature is 38.5 °C; chest examination reveals mild crackles in the mid zones only. Chest X-ray showed bilateral diffuse patchy infiltrates in the mid zones. The flesh-coloured umbilicated papules are caused by a cutaneous infection with a highly contagious poxvirus. Inflammation around the lesions is usually seen just prior to their resolution indicating activation of the patient’s own immune system in dealing with the cutaneous infection. When adults present with multiple lesions, then underlying immune compromise should be suspected. Molluscum contagiosum is usually self-resolving in children and those with an intact immune system. Most attempts at treating molluscum lesions revolve around destructive/irritant methods, such as with acid chemicals, cryotherapy and immunotherapy.
