Red spots like MOUTH rash may be a new symptom of coronavirus, Spanish study suggests
- The researchers examined 21 patients at a hospital in Madrid, Spain, who had rashes and confirmed cases of coronavirus.
- A third of the patients had enanthem, which are lesions similar to rashes that usually form in the mouth.
- All patients with rash spots were between 40 and 69 years old and four of the six were women.
A recent study suggests that oral lesions and palate spots may be a new symptom of the new coronavirus.
The researchers found that a third of COVID-19 patients with rashes on the arms and legs also had outbreaks on the roof of the mouth.
Also, these spots generally appeared about two weeks after people first experienced better-known symptoms, such as fever or shortness of breath.
The team at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid, Spain say that doctors and nurses should examine the oral cavities of confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients to see if they also have these signs.
A new study from Spain found that a third of coronavirus patients with rashes had enanthem, which are lesions similar to rashes that usually form in the mouth (above)
All the patients with rash-like spots were between 40 and 69 years old and four of the six were women. In the image: the rash on the outside of the body of a patient with coronavirus
At the start of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded just three symptoms of the virus on their website: fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
However, in April, the federal health agency expanded its list to include several more signs of infection, including chills, repeated tremors with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell.
Health officials have said that as more is learned about the new virus, new symptoms may also emerge.
For the study, published in JAMA Dermatology, the team examined 21 patients with coronavirus at a hospital that had a rash from March 30 to April 8.
Six patients had enanthem, which is a rash that looks like small spots that usually appear on the mucous membranes, such as the mouth, nose, and throat.
The average time between the onset of classic symptoms such as cough and these lesions was approximately 12 days.
All were between 40 and 69 years old and four of the six were women, suggesting that this symptom could affect certain subgroups of patients.
The team says this is not the first time that enanthem has been seen in patients with COVID-19, with reports of the eruption recorded in Italy.
“Despite increasing reports of skin rashes in COVID-19 patients, establishing an etiologic diagnosis is challenging,” the authors wrote.
However, the presence of enanthem is a strong clue suggesting a viral etiology rather than a pharmacological reaction, especially when a petechial pattern is observed. ‘
The researchers noted that many patients with coronavirus do not have their mouth examined due to safety concerns that they will expel the infected droplets.
Because of this, and the fact that patients often wear masks, hundreds more may have had mouth injuries.
The findings are reminiscent of an April report, in which a different group of Spanish scientists discovered that injuries and bruises on the toes were related to the virus.
In the United States, there are more than 3.7 million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 140,000 deaths.
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