Researchers at the University of Paris believe they have found the real cause of frostbite-like spots on the toes and sometimes hands of people infected with the coronavirus. According to specialists whose work was published in the British Journal of Dermatology, “COVID fingers” are a side effect of the body’s resistance to the virus. They were able to identify the areas of the immune system that cause such symptoms. Symptoms can occur at any age, but are most common in children and adolescents. For some, it is painless, while others complain of severe pain and itching, ulcers, and swelling.
For example, 13-year-old Sofia, a resident of Scotland, could barely walk and put on shoes when she developed symptoms of “club toe”. In an interview with the BBC, she complained that she was confined to a wheelchair for much of last summer. Affected toes, and sometimes fingers, take on a reddish or purplish color. Some people experience painful thickening, sometimes the skin becomes rough and chapped. Sometimes pus is released. Symptoms may last for weeks or even months. But often people do not have other symptoms that usually accompany classic COVID, such as persistent cough, fever, changes or complete loss of taste and smell.
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French scientists studied 50 patients with suspected “COVID finger” and another 13 patients with similar symptoms unrelated to coronavirus infection, as they were observed well before the start of the pandemic. The results of these studies, based on analyses of blood and skin scrapings, suggest that two elements of the immune system responsible for the body’s fight against viruses may be responsible. One is an antiviral protein of the first type, called interferon, and the other is an antibody that mistakenly attacks not only the invading virus but also the body’s own cells. The cells that line the capillaries through which blood flows to the affected areas play a certain role in the development of COVID fingers.
According to British orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ivan Bristow, blisters on the fingers, such as those that occur in people with circulation problems or in extremely cold weather, will eventually go away on their own. However, some patients require special treatment, including ointments and other medications. According to Dr. Bristow, identifying the cause of the “COVID finger” will help develop new treatments and more effective management of the disease. Dr. Veronik Batay, representative of the British Association of Dermatologists, notes that “COVID finger” was commonly observed in the early stages of the pandemic, but has become less common with the emergence of the current Delta variant of the coronavirus. This may be because many people have already been vaccinated or have previously developed immunity after recovering from coronavirus.
“The cases of ‘COVID finger’ manifestation after vaccination are much rarer,” says Dr. Batay. According to her, skin problems related to coronavirus infection can manifest after the acute form of the disease and even in people who have had no other signs of coronavirus, so the link between “COVID fingers” symptoms and COVID is not always obvious.