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Treatment of Molluscum Contagiosum with Imiquimod in the United States: A Retrospective Cross‐Sectional Study
Author(s) -
Farhangian Michael E.,
Huang Karen E.,
Feldman Steven R.,
Fleischer Alan B.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pediatric dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.542
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1525-1470
pISSN - 0736-8046
DOI - 10.1111/pde.12716
Subject(s) - imiquimod , molluscum contagiosum , medicine , dermatology , cross sectional study , pathology
Since there are concerns that imiquimod is being overprescribed for children with molluscum despite its limited efficacy, we used data from two nationally representative surveys to determine the rate at which imiquimod was being prescribed for molluscum contagiosum in the United States. From 1999‐2010, there were an estimated 6.4 million visits for molluscum (95% CI: 5.5, 7.3 million), and imiquimod was prescribed at 7.0% of these visits (95% CI: 3.4, 11). Given the low frequency of patients being treated with imiquimod for molluscum, the concerns of its overuse may be unfounded.