There are many symptoms of Covid with the three main signs of infection being a fever, a new and continuous cough as well as a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
However a less commonly known symptom is something called 'Covid toes' - a skin condition which is said to be a side effect of the body's response to fighting off the virus, according to new study.
A study published yesterday (October 5) in the British Journal of Dermatology looked into the skin condition, its origins and how it develops in the body by observing 50 patients from April 9 until April 16 2020 who suffered from the condition as well as 13 others who had similar lesions before the pandemic at the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, France.
The symptom results in a rash that presents as chilblain-like red, itchy patches on the toes and even hands and may last for months at a time. Because of its appearance, the study by excluding patients with a history of chilblains or chilblain lupus.
Covid toes have been reported widely within the last two years of the pandemic as when a person becomes infected with the Coronavirus, the study found that the condition may occur due the body's immune system response as it fights off the virus.
The study's abstract explained: "The outbreak of chilblain-like lesions (CLL) during the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported extensively, potentially related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, yet its underlying pathophysiology is unclear."
Using blood and skin tests, researchers found that the mechanisms behind Covid toes took place in two parts of the immune system with their findings suggesting that Covid toes are a two part immune system response which both involve processes the body uses to fight coronavirus.
The first is an antiviral protein called type 1 interferon, and the other is a type of antibody that mistakenly attacks the person's own cells and tissues, not just the invading virus. The study also found that cells lining the blood vessels that supply the affected areas also play a role in the progression of Covid toes and chilbains.
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