Molluscum is believed to be transmitted by both sexual and nonsexual routes, although epidemiological data are inconclusive. Since molluscum usually goes away on its own in healthy people, those with it often do not see a doctor. Furthermore, molluscum is not reported to public health authorities like other sexually transmitted diseases. Before AIDS, molluscum was primarily regarded as a childhood disease transmitted through ordinary child's play. Other reports suggest that it may be spread by nonsexual routes such as baths, swimming pools, sharing towels, and contact with infected family members.
Nonsexual transmission is uncommon in North America and Europe, though, except among children.
In uninfected people, or those with few lesions, molluscum is treated by physical destruction of each lesion. Several techniques are used, although none has been evaluated in controlled studies. Scraping or scooping the lesion off the skin through minor surgery is a common method. Cryotherapy, freezing the lesion with liquid nitrogen, is another method of direct physical destruction. However, physical removal of each lesion-is often impractical in people with AIDS because multiple lesions may cover the face or genital areas.