- Doctors in Spain think they found a new coronavirus symptom that can easily go undiagnosed even in hospitalized patients.
- A mouth rash, or enanthem, appeared in approximately 30% of a small cohort of COVID-19 confirmed patients who also showed rashes.
- The CDC does not list skin rashes of any kind in its official symptoms of COVID-19, while the WHO says that skin rashes are less common in patients with coronavirus.
What makes the new coronavirus so difficult to diagnose without proper testing is the fact that the virus does not cause many unique symptoms. The sudden loss of smell and taste stands out as a strange sign of COVID-19, but all the others are shared among various medical conditions. Fevers, cough, and diarrhea can have different etiologies, and are not indicative of COVID-19 even though that might be the first thing that occurs to you these days. Add to that the fact that not all COVID-19 patients show exactly the same clinical development of COVID-19, with many people experiencing no symptoms or a mild version of the disease, and clinical diagnosis is virtually impossible. That’s why testing is necessary and should be scaled up so that we can find, isolate, and treat patients as quickly as possible and prevent them from spreading COVID-19 to others.
With that in mind, doctors in Spain believe they have found a new symptom of coronavirus that has all been missing so far. It is not currently listed on the CDC or WHO web pages for the new coronavirus. And, as you may have guessed, it won’t be enough on its own to help doctors diagnose the disease faster.
If you’re familiar with “COVID toe,” the skin lesions that may appear in some COVID-19 patients that were discovered months ago, you won’t be surprised to learn that the virus can cause dermatological symptoms. Researchers from Spain have published a study in JAMA Dermatology detailing the enanthem in patients with COVID-19.
The study details previous works from Italy that identified rashes or rashes that were seen with some patients with COVID-19. Enanthem is an injury similar to a skin rash that appears inside the mouth. Spanish researchers say the symptom may have gone unnoticed until now because many patients don’t have their oral cavities examined. That’s the result of safety concerns and protocols, not a failure to treat doctors. The mouth is where the drops and sprays that can spread the coronavirus originate, of course. Patients are advised to wear face masks and the oral cavities may go unnoticed, especially if the patient does not complain.
The mouth rash symptom, like other signs of COVID-19, will not appear in all infected people. Researchers at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid found that only six out of 21 patients had enanthem. All the patients also presented skin rashes and tested positive for COVID-19. Doctors found different types of mouth rashes that fall into four categories: “petechial, macular, macular with petechiae, or erythematovesicular.”
Doctors discovered that the onset of lesions occurred two to 24 days after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms and said that drug intake was not associated with mouth rashes. As with other COVID-19 symptoms, these injuries can have different causes.
As scientists point out, this work is preliminary and more research is required. They say that “the presence of enanthem is a strong clue that suggests a viral etiology rather than a pharmacological reaction, especially when a petechial pattern is observed.” That’s the kind of detail that might be helpful to other doctors, including dermatologists who see patients they may not know have been infected with the new coronavirus.
The CDC lists various coronavirus symptoms on its pages, but does not mention any dermatological signs. The WHO has “skin rash or discoloration of the fingers and toes” included in the “less common” list of symptoms of COVID-19.
Chris Smith began writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he was sharing his views on technology topics with readers around the world. Every time you don’t write about devices, you unfortunately don’t stay away from them, even though you desperately try. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.
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