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“COVID toe” and four other mystery skin rashes linked to coronavirus are baffling doctors fighting the pandemic.
The conditions are affecting younger hospital patients diagnosed with the deadly bug and tend to last several days, a Spanish study has found.
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Rashes are not currently listed as a symptom of coronavirus, but doctors told researchers that there have been many reports of a skin problem named “Covid toe”.
The condition appears on the feet of patients, even when no other symptoms are apparent.
Dr Ignacio Garcia-Doval explained that the most common type of rash in the study was maculopapules – small, flat and raised red bumps.
He told the BBC: “It is strange to see several different rashes – and some of them are quite specific.
“It usually appears later on, after the respiratory manifestation of the disease – so it’s not good for diagnosing patients.”
It usually appears later on, after the respiratory manifestation of the disease – so it’s not good for diagnosing patients.
Dr Ignacio Garcia-Doval
The study, published in the British Journal of Dermotology this week, asked all of the dermatologists in Spain to reveal details of coronavirus patients who had suffered rashes in the past two weeks.
There were 375 patients in total.
However, experts were reluctant to say that the rashes are definitely linked to covid-19 as they are a common symptom of many viral infections.
Dr Michael Head at the University of Southampton told the BBC: “We don’t yet know the extent of these links, or precisely why this inflammation occurs in some patients but not others.”
‘IT WAS HORRIBLE’
Robin Harnett, 57, from Ashford in Kent, said I have suffered coronavirus symptoms in December last year.
It was at this time that I noticed a rash on his foot – which he believes could have been “Covid toe”.
I have told SunOnline: “I went to the doctors on December 17.
“Around that time I had a really bad cough and didn’t feel too good.
“It was between Christmas and new year – my wife and older are were the same.
My toes were very sore, itchy and stinging, it was horrible.
Robin harnett
“My toes looked exactly the same as the photographs [of “Covid toe”] I’ve seen.
“I am a courier and my wife thought it [the rash] was from the trainers I was wearing.
But the doctor said it looked like chilblains and gave me some cream.
“It took about 12 days to go. My toes were very sore, itchy and stinging, it was horrible.”
COVID RASHES
Earlier this month research from a study in Italy – one of the worst hit countries by the coronavirus crisis – suggested that one in five people who are hospitalized with the killer bug may develop rashes or unexplained marks on their skin.
At the Lecco Hospital in Lombardy, the country’s covid-19 epicenter, 20 per cent of 88 infected patients experienced changes to their skin.
They study showed that none of them had taken drugs that could have caused the reaction.
I have seen quite a few patients who don’t normally suffer from eczema or allergies who have a sudden, odd rash.
NHS medic
Eight of the 18 patients who did notice changes to their skin do so as one of their first symptoms.
Medics in Britain have also reported patients suffering from rashes.
An NHS consultant dermatologist said: “I have seen quite a few patients who don’t normally suffer from eczema or allergies who have a sudden, odd rash.
“Then, maybe two or three days later, they have developed typical Covid-19 symptoms. For some patients, we believe a rash may be the only symptom that they get.
“The public should look out for this and other possible symptoms in members of their household.”
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