It’s actually hard to think of another virus that causes so many different types of skin findings.
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When it comes to the skin symptoms long-haulers are experiencing, Freeman says theres likely multiple factors at play.
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For one, some skin conditions could be triggered by inflammation related to the body fighting the virus.
The skin symptoms that seem to be linked to inflammation include COVID toes, or pernio/chilblains.
In contrast, some of the other dermatologic conditions travel with much more severe COVID-19," Freeman says.
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Freeman’s registry found that 100% of patients with retiform purpura were hospitalized.
Blood clots are one of the mostsevere and dangerous manifestationsof COVID-19.
So [skin symptoms] are not universally triggered by inflammation," Freeman explains.
“You have to drill down on the different types of skin manifestations.
The measles virus, for example, causes fever and flu-like symptoms and spreads throughout the body.
A lot of these diseases are dysregulation of the immune system.
Why Do Skin Symptoms Last So Long?
Long-haulers or people experiencing long-term symptoms from COVID-19 are still being studied.
In Freemans research, data showed that different symptoms lasted various amounts of time.
Papulosquamous eruptions lasted a median of 20 days, but one COVID-19 long-hauler had the symptom for 70 days.
Two had COVID toes for more than 130 days.
But with COVID-19, the longer-lasting symptoms are still puzzling to experts.
Recovering from COVID-19 is not clear-cut, as people with long-COVID have shown, Freeman says.
Different skin conditions depend on the severity of the disease; COVID toes is associated with milder cases.
With COVID toes, we’re seeing this kind of persistent inflammation, she says.
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European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.New analysis reveals long-hauler COVID-19 patients with prolonged skin symptoms.
