A new study suggests that COVID-19 may have a symptom that is not listed by the Centres for Disease Control – lesions inside the mouth. Common symptoms of being infected with the coronavirus include a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, but research published by JAMA Dermatology notes that some patients exhibited rash-like lesions.

“We included 21 consecutive patients from a tertiary care hospital who had skin rash and COVID-19, confirmed by real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction from a nasopharyngeal swab, and who required dermatology consultation from March 30 to April 8, 2020. The oral cavities of patients presenting with skin rash were systematically examined,” researchers from Ramon y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid wrote in the study. “Enanthems were classified into 4 categories: petechial, macular, macular with petechiae, or erythematovesicular. “

“This work describes preliminary observations and is limited by the small number of cases and the absence of a control group,” researchers continued. “Despite the increasing reports of skin rashes in patients with COVID-19, establishing an etiological diagnosis is challenging. However, the presence of enanthem is a strong clue that suggests a viral etiology rather than a drug reaction, especially when a petechial pattern is observed.”

Enanthems or rashes were observed in six of the 21 COVID-19-positive patients who partook in the study, and these patients were between 40 and 69 years old. Four of the six patients who displayed the lesions were female.

Enanthems were previously identified in some COVID-19 patients in Italy, and a separated group of researchers in Spain also found lesions on patients’ feet that may have links to coronavirus. These were found in April and have not yet been confirmed.

As of Monday, July 20, more than 14.5-million coronavirus cases have been diagnosed worldwide.

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Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.