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Research on Spanish patients has found that COVID-19 can cause symptoms in the mouth and tongue.
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About one in four patients in the study experienced swelling, sores, bumps or discolored spots.
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The researchers also found evidence of rashes and bumps on the hands and feet.
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A swollen or irregular tongue could be a sign of coronavirus infection, according to new research.
The researchers found that one in four coronavirus patients noticed changes on their tongue, including swelling, sores, lumps on the surface of the tongue, indentations and / or discolored spots. A small percentage of patients also reported a burning sensation in the mouth.
These findings were based on observations from 666 patients with COVID-19 and mild or moderate pneumonia at a field hospital in Spain.
The symptoms used to be combined with the loss of taste, which appeared as an increasingly common sign of the virus.
It is not yet clear whether these symptoms can be generalized. Since the patients included in the study had moderate cases of infection, the researchers are not sure whether these symptoms, called “COVID language”, can also affect people with severe coronavirus or those with milder cases.
Although viral infections are known to cause symptoms in the mouth and tongue, there is little data on this phenomenon in patients with COVID-19. This may be partly because medical experts avoid spending too much time in patients’ mouths due to concerns about the safety of the highly infectious virus.
The new findings were presented on January 26, but first published in September in the British Journal of Dermatology.
Skin rashes are also associated with COVID-19, but there are many things we don’t know
This study also found that about 40% of patients had skin problems on the palms or soles. These included a burning sensation, redness, peeling skin and small bumps.
About one in ten patients also had a rash.
Previous research has also found that coronavirus infection can affect the hands, feet and skin. In May, dermatologists reported patients with swollen and red toes and skin rashes associated with COVID-19. And “longtime travelers” or people with prolonged symptoms have also reported skin problems, which can be a sign of inflammation caused by the virus.
Research shows how common it is for coronavirus to cause skin rashes and other dermatological symptoms.
This most recent study found more examples of skin-related symptoms than many previous studies, so there may be other factors involved.
Scientists also don’t fully understand when these types of symptoms tend to appear, so at this point, it’s difficult to know whether they can help predict more severe or long-term cases of COVID-19.
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