Burning and redness of the feet and hands 'key signs' of Covid, says new study

Burning and redness of the feet and hands 'key signs' of Covid, says new study

CREDIT: SaludMadrid Twitter

Burning and redness of the feet and hands ‘key signs’ of Covid, according to a study carried out by health workers at the IFEMA field hospital in Madrid.
CHANGES in the tongue, the soles of the feet or the palms of the hands have been found to be signs of coronavirus, claim staff who conducted a study of patients at the Hospital La Paz and Primary Care in Madrid during the first wave of the pandemic.
The research, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, was carried out in April 2020, according to the Community of Madrid in a statement, in which it details that among the symptoms identified are alterations in the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, specifically a “burning sensation and redness” followed, on some occasions, by scaling or the appearance of small spots.
Another symptom detected by the researchers is the so-called “Covid tongue”, which sees an increase in the size of the tongue and other lingual lesions such as a “patchy depapilation”, which means having smoother areas of the tongue associated in many occasions with loss of taste.
A quarter of the 666 patients studied presented alterations in the tongue and mouth and almost 40 per cent in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
In total, 78 patients (25.65 per cent) presented alterations in the mouth. The most frequent was bumps on the tongue (11.5 per cent), tongue swelling (6.6); ulcers (6.9), open sores (3.9) soreness of the tongue in patches (3.6%); and a rash/small spots (0.5).
The majority referred to a ‘distorted sense of smell’ (39.8 per cent), and complained of a burning sensation in the hands and feet (7 per cent), skin peeling (25 per cent) and the appearance of some characteristic spots on the palms and soles (15 per cent).
The study authors conclude that the oral cavity “may be altered by COVID-19 disease” and that “lingual edema with transient U-shaped lingual papillitis or glossitis with patchy depapilation are very characteristic signs, as is burning sensation in the oral cavity”.
This burning, they point out, “can also appear on palms and soles with a reddish color or peeling and spots”.
All of these symptoms, claim the health staff, “can be key signs for an early diagnosis of this disease.”


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Tara Rippin

Tara Rippin is a reporter for Spain’s largest English-speaking newspaper, Euro Weekly News, and is responsible for the Costa Blanca region.
She has been in journalism for more than 20 years, having worked for local newspapers in the Midlands, UK, before relocating to Spain in 1990.
Since arriving, the mother-of-one has made her home on the Costa Blanca, while spending 18 months at the EWN head office in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.
She loves being part of a community that has a wonderful expat and Spanish mix, and strives to bring the latest and most relevant news to EWN’s loyal and valued readers.

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