Changes to the mouth, hands or feet could be the latest signs of infection with the novel coronavirus, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that 25 percent of COVID-19 patients seen in April 2020 had a tongue inflammation or bumps and ulcers on the tongue.
What’s more, nearly 40 percent of those patients had redness, burning and hives on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
The team, from Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain, says doctors and nurses should examine the oral cavities and hands and feet of suspected COVID-19 patients in order to potentially diagnosed them more quickly
The findings were published in the British Journal of Dermatology in the form of a ‘research letter’ in September but were presented on Tuesday.
It involved 666 mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients treated between April 10 and 25 at the field hospital at IFEMA, the Madrid exhibition center, which closed on May 1.
Overall, 45.7 percent had changes seen on their tongues, hands or feet.
About one in four patients, 25.7 percent, noticed changes to their tongue, what has become known as ‘covid tongue.’
The most common change was transient lingual papillitis, which is inflammation of the papillae, or the small bumps on the surface of the tongue.
Another 6.9 percent reported having aphthous stomatitis, which occurs when benign and non-contagious mouth ulcers from.
In addition, 6.6 percent reported glossitis, an inflammation of the tongue that causes it to swell in size and change in color.
Nearly four percent had patchy depapillation which is when a whitish coating appears on the surface of the tongue.
Meanwhile, approximately 40 percent of patients reported changed to their hands and feet.
The most common condition was diffuse desquamation, which is widespread skin peeling, in which the outermost layer is shed,
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