The skin condition known as 'Covid toes' may be a side effect of the body's response to fighting off the virus, a new study has found.
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.
A study published yesterday in the British Journal of Dermatology studied the skin condition, its origins and how it develops in the body.
Covid toes have been reported widely in the pandemic. When a person becomes infected with coronavirus, the study found that the condition may occur as the body's immune system fights off the virus.
Researchers observed 50 patients last April at the Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris, France who suffered from symptoms of Covid toes, as well as 13 others who had similar lesions before the pandemic.
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.
Their findings suggest that Covid toes are part of a two part immune system response. 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.
