Changes in the skin that may be a sign of Covid

In the early days of the pandemic, health experts focused on three key signs of Covid-19: fever, cough, and trouble breathing. But the more the disease was detected, the more symptoms were identified as Covid signs.

According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Dermatology there is a significant link between skin rashes / irritations and Covid. The researchers made this determination by looking at information from 33,847 people in the UK who had published their health history, including any Covid test results and symptoms, in the COVID Symptom Study app. Application data showed that, among those who had a positive test result, 8.8% also reported skin rash.

According to the study, skin changes appeared at the same time as other Covid-19 symptoms for 47% of respondents and after other Covid-19 symptoms for 35% of respondents. But what the researchers found to be most surprising was that 17% of respondents said their skin changes occurred before any other Covid-19 symptoms. And 21% of people said skin rash was the only symptom of Covid-19 they experienced.

Skin rashes may be less common than other signs of the disease, study authors show that skin changes should not be neglected.

Be aware of skin changes that:
- look like frostbite on cold days
- irritation in the chest / neck
area - redness in the lip area (lips look sore, dry and scaly; may occur even sore mouth)
- urticaria that suddenly appears in many parts of the body.