Bruising and lesions on the feet could be a sign of coronavirus, doctors in Spain suspect.
Patients with deep purple chickenpox-like marks on their toes have tested positive for the killer infection.
‘Numerous cases’ have been reported in Spain as well as Italy and France, as the disease continues to rage across Europe.
One of the first reported cases was a 13-year-old boy in Italy, whose lesions – initially thought to be caused by a spider bite – turned black and crusted.
Experts warn the mysterious symptom has primarily been spotted in children and teenagers.
But skin manifestations potentially caused by the virus were seen in one in five patients in an Italian hospital.
Typically the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes a persistent cough and fever. But recently studies have alerted diarrhoea, skin marks, testicular pain and a loss of taste and smell as ‘atypical’ signs.
A study today has revealed that a large number of people who contract COVID-19 also experience headaches.
Bruising and lesions on the feet could be a sign of coronavirus, doctors in Spain suspect. One of the first reported cases was a 13-year-old boy in Italy (pictured)
The teenager in Italy saw his lesions – initially thought to be caused by a spider bite – turn black and crusted. He and his family had symptoms of the coronavirus
Experts warn the mysterious symptom has been spotted in children and teenagers the most
The Spanish General Council of Official Podiatrist Colleges shared a statement revealing the ‘curious finding’.
It described patients who had purple lesions – very similar to those of chickenpox, measles or chilblains – which usually appear on the toes.
The same symptoms are ‘increasingly being detected in patients with COVID -19, especially children and adolescents’, according to podiatrists and dermatologists.
The marks have also been seen in adults, and normally heal without leaving a scar or similar.
The college, which has 7,500 members, said it was aware of similar findings in Italy and France.
Medical experts in Spain are now collecting a database of people who have tested positive for the virus as well as having marks on their feet.
And dermatologists from different Spanish health centers are leading the ‘COVID-Skin’ study, to categorise lesions which have been spotted in COVID-19 patients.
The General Council of Official Colleges of Podiatrists opened a registry last Thursday, and told its members to ‘be very vigilant’.
Podiatrists and dermatologists have been advised to quarantine children when such marks are spotted – but not to act with ‘unfounded alarmism’
It advised to quarantine children when such marks are spotted – but not to act with ‘unfounded alarmism’.
The International Federation of Podiatrists (FIP-IFP) reported one of the first cases of the symptom in a 13-year-old boy from Bari, southern Italy.
Doctors attributed his violet, round lesions to a brown recluse spider bite, and sent him away with medication on March 8.
The teenager developed a fever, muscle pain, a headache and intense itching on the feet two days later.
After images of lesions on the feet of COVID-19 patients began circulating on Italian social media and among dermatologist sites, the doctors suspected the boy may have the disease.
After studying his family’s medical history, they found his sister and mother had a fever, cough and difficulty breathing six days before he first had the lesions.
However, due to the severe outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy, the team admitted they hadn’t been able to test and follow up with the boy.
As it stands there is not enough ‘scientific evidence’ to say for certain that small lesions on the feet are an official symptom – which was recognised by the college.
After all, it could be entirely coincidental that these marks, which look like blisters, occurred around the same time someone became unwell.
However, NHS GP Dr Daniel Gordon told MailOnline: ‘It would be far from surprising if it turned out to be true that COVID-19 causes symptoms in the skin.
‘Many viruses cause skin rashes and marks. Viruses tend to affect multiple parts of the body rather than just one system, although in the case of COVID-19 it is certainly the lungs that are most heavily hit.
‘These findings are just case reports at present, and more work will need to be done by scientists to find out if there is a significant association.’
One theory is that skin eruptions are caused by the closure of tiny blood vessels, which might be induced by the nervous system in response to the virus.
Dr Randy Jacobs, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, said COVID-19 can ‘feature signs of small blood vessel occlusion’ – clotting of the blood – according to The Hospitalist.
He said: ‘Many have wondered if COVID-19 presents with any particular skin changes. The answer is yes.’
One study of 88 patients at Alessandro Manzoni Hospital in Lecco, northern Italy, found 20 per cent complained of skin manifestations.
They had not taken any medications or drugs in the preceding 15 days, which could have caused a skin reaction.