SoylentNews

c0lo [soylentnews.org] writes:

8 ways the coronavirus can affect your skin, from COVID toes, to rashes and hair loss [theconversation.com]

As the pandemic progresses, we’re growing increasingly aware COVID-19 affects multiple parts of the body [medium.com] beyond the lungs. That includes the skin.

We’ve seen reports of skin symptoms ranging from “COVID toes” to hair loss, and different types of rashes. Some skin symptoms appear soon after infection, while others arise later or in more severe disease. Most get better with time.

Researchers are also beginning to work out what causes these skin conditions, whether it’s the body’s immune response to infection, or whether hormones are involved.

Here are some of these symptoms, from the most common to the least:

• 1. widespread small red bumps and multiple flat red patches... maculopapular eruptions...
• 2. redness of the whites of the eyes... conjunctivitis...
• 3. chilblain-like symptoms, commonly called ‘COVID toes’...
• 4. hives or urticaria...
• 5. water blisters... vesicular eruptions...
• 6. ‘fishing net-like’ red-blue pattern on the skin, or livedo...
• 7. rash associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children or MIS-C...
• 8. hair loss (telogen effluvium)

TFA above links to doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2020.05.079 [jaad.org] (free access) "Androgenetic alopecia present in the majority of patients hospitalized with COVID-19: The ‘‘Gabrin sign’’"

----------- break here ----------

Previously, we reported a possible association between male patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and androgenetic alopecia (AGA); however, the study was limited by its population size of 41 men.4
In this communication, we present additional data from patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted due to severity criteria (mainly low peripheral oxygen saturation) to 3 tertiary hospitals in Madrid, Spain. The patients were randomly examined by dermatologists who were assisting with the overwhelming number of admitted patients. The study took place from March 23, 2020, to April 12, 2020.
...
A total of 175 individuals with confirmed COVID-19 were evaluated. Among the patients, 122 were men and 53 were women. Overall, 67% of the patients (95% confidence interval, 60%-74%) presented with clinically relevant AGA. The frequency of AGA in men was 79% (95% confidence interval, 70%-85%) The frequency of AGA in women was 42% (95% confidence interval, 29%-55%).
...
Although age was widely proportional among patients with no alopecia, moderate AGA, and severe AGA, there was a slight tendency for younger age in men with moderate AGA and in women with no alopecia compared with the respective severe AGA groups.
...
The hypothesis of androgen-mediated COVID-19 severity requires validation in larger studies. Antiandrogen treatments that could be theoretically studied in the treatment and prophylaxis of severe COVID-19 are indicated in Fig 2.

Original Submission