Molluscum contagiosum
A contagious disease of the skin marked by the occurrence of rounded soft tumors of the skin caused by the growth of a virus (one that belongs to the virus family called the Poxviridae).
The disease is characterized by the appearance of a few to numerous small, pearly, umbilicated downgrowths called molluscum bodies or condyloma subcutaneum.
Molluscum contagiosum is mainly seen in children. In teenagers and adults it is often transmitted sexually and so may be considered a sexually transmitted disease (STD). It is a benign disorder that usually clears up by itself.
The Latin “molluscus” means soft.
Read Also:
- Monaural
Relating to one ear. Hearing aids may be monaural (for one ear) or binaural (for both ears). From monos, single or alone + the Latin auris, ear = a single ear.
- Mongolism
Obsolete name for Down syndrome. Down syndrome refers to the 19th century English physician J. Langdon Down who described the condition in 1866. In great error, Langdon Down attributed the condition to a “reversion” to the “mongoloid race.” He held that evolution had been reversed and there had been a sort of backslide from the […]
- Monilia
A yeast-like fungus now called Candida.
- Moniliasis, oral
Yeast infection of the mouth and throat caused by a fungus formerly called Monilia, now known as Candida albicans. This infection is also known as thrush. Yeast organisms are part of the germs normally found in various parts of the body. They ordinarily do not cause any symptoms. Certain conditions, such as antibiotic use, can […]
- Monitor, Holter
A type of portable heart monitor that is a small electrocardiogram (EKG) device worn in a pouch around the neck or waist. A Holter monitor keeps a record of the heart rhythm, typically over a 24-hour period, and the patient keeps a diary of activities and symptoms. The EKG recording is then correlated with the […]