Cough, fever, loss of taste … and hives? The symptoms of Covid-19 may further widen. According to the union of dermatologists and venerologists, skin lesions are observed in some patients with the virus. Specialists are calling for more screening of patients with these symptoms.
They are the visible signs of the disease: for several days, health specialists have noted cases of urticaria lesions in patients with symptoms of Covid-19. “There are signs that are called para-viral. They are not linked to a virus in the skin, unlike herpes for example, but they are visible during viral diseases. It can be erythema, small pimples, “explains Anne Grimaldi, dermatologist in Angers. “In Lombardy ( Editor’s note: outbreak of the epidemic in Italy ), dermatologists studied 148 patients for Covid cases. They removed 60 of them who were undergoing drug treatment – which may be responsible for redness – and of the remaining 88, 18 people had skin manifestations, “notes the dermatologist.
Mild signs of the disease
Recently, patients complaining of foot and hand pain have also called dermatologists. “We are currently seeing” false “frostbite, the appearance of redness that can be painful,” says Catherine Oliveres-Ghouti, member of the dermatologists’ union. “We have a WhatsApp group with 400 specialists who tell us about skin signs,” she continues, calling on people with these symptoms to send photos as soon as pain or plaques appear.
Annick Barbaud, head of the dermatology and allergology department at Tenon Hospital, in Paris, and member of the French Dermatology Society wants to be more careful. “There are few skin manifestations in this disease. What would be needed are biopsies and serologies. At Tenon Hospital we are not called for this kind of problem, and yet we have a lot of serious cases. In any case, it is rather a mild form of the disease, ”she recalls.
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