U.S. doctors identify new COVID-19 symptom
U.S. doctors identified a new symptom of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, informally dubbed “COVID toes.”
The presence of purple or blue lesions on a patient’s feet and toes puzzles infectious disease experts, USA Today reports.
“They’re typically painful to touch and could have a hot burning sensation,” said Dr. Ebbing Lautenbach, chief of infectious disease at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine.
What doctors said is most interesting about "COVID toes" is that they appear in COVID-19 patients who don’t exhibit any other symptoms. Similarly, the loss of taste and smell was found to be associated with COVID-19 among otherwise asymptomatic patients by the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and ENT UK in late March.
“This is a manifestation that occurs early on in the disease, meaning you have this first, then you progress,” Lautenbach said. “Sometimes this might be your first clue that they have COVID when they don’t have any other symptoms.”
“COVID toes” in some people can disappear in the course of a week to 10 days, but others progress to respiratory symptoms, he said.
The new symptom appears in more children and young adults than any other age group. Ebbing suggested this may be because children and young adults have better immune systems.
According to Lautenbach, “COVID toes” were discovered in March by Italian doctors. Once experts were informed of the strange symptom, they began recognizing more and more cases in the USA.
There are two running hypotheses on what could cause “COVID toes." One possible explanation, Lautenbach said, is that there is an inflammatory response more localized to a patient’s foot and toes. Or it could be a clotting of blood vessels.
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