Could a Rash be a Sign of Covid-19?

A new study adds to a growing body of evidence pointing to skin rash as a possible symptom of Covid-19 infection. Publishing in the British Journal of Dermatology, researchers analyzed data from over 335,00 subjects in the United Kingdom. Let’s look at the study in more detail.

The scientists obtained data from the COVID Symptom Study app to evaluate whether they could use the presence of skin rashes to help diagnosis Covid-19 infections. Also, they performed an independent online survey of nearly 12,000 respondents to gather information on skin-related symptoms of Covid-19.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Skin rashes were significantly associated with the chances of a positive Covid-19 test result, with an increase in the probability of just under 1.7-times.
• Body rashes appeared more frequently than did rashes on the fingers and toes, but the rashes in the differing locations had comparable predictive value.
• For those with a Covid-19 infection, 17 percent had a rash as the first symptom, while 21 percent reported rashes as the only symptom.

If you are like me, you probably want to see pictures. I will not disappoint you as a catalog of 400 images is publicly available at covidskinsigns.com.

Skin rashes can be a point to a Covid-19 infection. Increased awareness for the general public and healthcare providers should aid in more efficient detection of disease

Reference:

Diagnostic value of cutaneous manifestation of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection A. Visconti Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK