Facial and perioral molluscum contagiosum as a manifestation of HIV infection

Molluscum contagiosum (MC) is a self-limiting viral disease of the skin and the mucous membranes. Facial and perioral MC is seen with increasing frequency in human immunodeficiency (HIV) infection, particularly in HIV infected homosexual men. The purpose of this study was to describe clinical observations of facial and perioral MC in HIV infected patients. One hundred and eighty HIV-positive individuals (160 males and 20 females) were examined over a period of five years. Fifty-eight were homosexual men and 19 were bisexual men. Fifty-one of 180 patients at the time of the first examination had CD+4 count < 200 cells/mm3 and another 63 presented loss of CD+4 cells in this level, during this period. Three HIV infected patients (two homosexual and one bisexual) were affected with facial and perioral MC. At the time of MC diagnosis the CD+4 count was less than 200 cells/mm3 for all three patients. One patient died nine months after MC diagnosis and the other two are still alive. It is remarkable that in this study no clinical lesions were observed on other sites of the skin.