Molluscum Contagiosum A Clinical And Epidemiological Study

Background: Molluscum Contagiosum (MC), of world wide distribution, is common, but its incidence in most areas is not reliably known. This research examines the prevalence of the disease in relation to general epidemiological variables like age, sex, religion, occupation, seasonal variation including its frequency of clinical variants and association of other skin and systemic diseases. Methods: 100 cases with MC were selected irrespective of age, sex, socioeconomic status of the first 100 patients attending out patient department of the Department of Dermatology STD and Leprosy K.L.E. Society’s Hospital and Medical Research Center and District Hospital Belgaum during the study period of 13 months from 1 September 1995 to 30 September 1996. Clinical examination was done to study the distribution, morphology and umbilication of the lesions. Results: The prevalence of MC was 0.64%. 62% patients belonged to ages 11 to 30 years. Male to Female ratio was 1.6: 1 Hindus (73%) were found to be more involved than Muslims (27%). The prevalence of MC was common among students and housewives (74%), followed by unskilled workers (30.7%), agriculturists and businessmen (26.9%) each and unskilled workers (4%). Conclusion: MC occurred mainly in unskilled workers and was most common in the age group of 21 to 30 (37%).