Why Some COVID-19 Patients in Iran Develop Skin Problems

The head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Masih Daneshvari Hospital said just as many other viral illnesses may be accompanied by red skin gashes or pimples, the coronavirus disease is also associated with skin manifestation in some patients.

Dr Davoud Payam Tabarsi says, however, that the specific skin gashes that characterise COVID-19 have not yet been identified.

“In some patients with COVID-19, skin manifestations have been seen which may be due to drug side-effects,” ISNA quoted the expert as saying.

Tabarsi, who is also a faculty member of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, pointed out that many people with the coronavirus may use several types of drugs for treatment, and taking antiviral drugs, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs at the same time may cause skin problems.

In many cases, skin problems may occur on the body of people with corona not because of the virus, but because of the side effects of the drugs, he stressed.

Tabari at the same time noted that “skin problems are not very common among patients in Iran.”

Numerous reports of skin rashes in patients with COVID-19 are cropping up around the world.

The rashes can take many forms — some appear as tiny red spots, while others appear as larger flat or raised lesions. Some have a hive-like appearance, while others look like frostbitten toes.

However, the Live Science says it’s too early to say whether these rashes are indeed caused by the new coronavirus, or whether they are related to other factors.

“That’s really the million-dollar question,” said Dr. Kanade Shinkai, a professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, and editor-in-chief of the journal JAMA Dermatology.

“It’s unclear whether the skin lesions we see in COVID are actually a direct manifestation of the virus” in the skin, or whether they are a “reaction pattern” due to a generally ramped-up immune system, Shinkai told Live Science.