The question that was always there

At the dermatologist’s, it all got a name: molluscum contagiosum. The word “contagious” is right there in it. From then on, the question was with me all the time, with every touch, at home and elsewhere.

Finding a clear answer was harder than I expected. Many sites give figures without saying where they come from. Here I summarise what I read in sources I consider reputable. The links are in the text and at the end of the article. Please read them yourself.

Between infection and the first bump

According to DermNet, a reference site on skin conditions from New Zealand, there are often about two weeks between infection and a visible bump, but it can be as long as six months.

That range stayed on my mind for a long time. It means you often can’t work out when or where you caught it. And it also means that a new spot today can go back to contact that happened weeks or months ago.

Whether you are already contagious during the time when nothing is visible yet, I found no clear statement in my sources. So I won’t write anything more about it.

Contagious while bumps are there

On the Northern Irish government health site nidirect I read that it isn’t known exactly how long someone with molluscum is contagious. But it is thought that the contagious period may last until the last spot has gone.

For me, that was sobering. With a short course, it is a matter of a few weeks or months. For me it was two years, during which new spots kept appearing. Two years in which I felt I had to protect everyone around me.

The US health agency CDC writes that the bumps usually go away within six to twelve months, but that it can also take longer. In a British study of more than 300 children, it took a little over 13 months on average until no spots were visible anymore. So nobody can say for sure how long it will take for any one person.

How the virus is passed on

From what I read on the CDC website, the virus is passed on through skin contact with someone who has it. It can also be passed on through surfaces and objects that someone with molluscum has touched. Health sources such as the CDC and the NHS mention towels and clothing again and again.

The Mayo Clinic also describes how scratching or rubbing the bumps can carry the virus to nearby skin on your own body.

On the Mayo Clinic website I also read that in adults it can be passed on during sex. How I dealt with closeness during that time is in the article Molluscum and intimacy.

How easily the virus can be passed on when people live closely together is shown by a British study of children: there, it was often passed on to other children in the same household.

At the same time, I didn’t read in any source that people with molluscum should be kept away from everyday life because of it. The sources sound much calmer here than I felt at the time.

What the sources say about everyday life

A few points come up again and again in the health sources:

  • The CDC writes that children with molluscum don’t need to be kept away from nursery or school.
  • For spots that aren’t covered by clothing, the CDC mentions a plaster there, especially during close contact or sport.
  • The NHS advises not sharing towels, clothing and other personal items with others.
  • The American Academy of Dermatology advises against scratching or squeezing the bumps, because this can spread the virus.

I am only passing this on as I read it. What applies to you personally is best clarified with a doctor.

How it felt for me

The question of passing it on weighed on me a lot. I kept my towels separate, disinfected and avoided touch. I gave up holidays because of hotel towels and other things that many people use. And because new spots kept appearing, for a long time there was no end at which I could breathe out.

I cancelled some plans, skipped sport and the swimming pool and withdrew. I didn’t want to explain to anyone what was going on with my skin, and I definitely didn’t want to pass it on to anyone. Apart from the person I lived with, I told no one. That made me feel even more alone.

With some distance, I can see that back then I acted mostly out of uncertainty. If I had known earlier how calmly reputable health sources write about the subject, it might have taken some of that pressure off me. What the sources say about sport and swimming pools is collected in the article Swimming pool, sport, sauna.

I also talked to my dermatologist about how contagious it is. That mattered to me because I didn’t want to pass it on to anyone, especially not my partner, whom I lived with.

What I know today

From what I have read, there is no exact figure for how long molluscum is contagious. The sources go by the visible bumps. The CDC also writes that you can catch it more than once in your lifetime. There is more about this in the article Can molluscum come back?.

If you are unsure whether it is molluscum at all and what that means for your everyday life, a conversation with a doctor can bring clarity.

After two years it was over for me. Was it coincidence? I don’t know. How it came about, I tell in my story.