What are Covid Toes?
Some people may be having a reaction to the Covid vaccine which may cause “covid toe”.
Live Science thinks they know what causes covid toe and it might not just be uric acid build up.
Cases of COVID toes started cropping up in the early days of the pandemic, and at the time, scientists had a few ideas as to why the condition manifested.
A build up of uric acid can cause the red rashes and raised bumps on the toes, however, doctors think they may have the answer… and it is your body’s own immune system attacking covid, but also attackingi its own healthy cells.
The results of a new study, published Oct. 5 in the British Journal of Dermatology, hint at why the reddish-purple papules pop up on the toes and sometimes the fingers.
For the new study, the team recruited 50 patients who were referred to the dermatology department of Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris after developing chilblain-like lesions for the first time; all of the patients were admitted during April 2020, near the start of the pandemic.
The researchers found that most of their study participants carried high levels of autoantibodies, proteins generated by the immune system that inadvertently attack the body’s own tissues. They also found evidence that, compared with healthy individuals, the participants showed rampant activity of proteins called type 1 interferons, which switch on pathogen-fighting genes in immune cells. While these interferons help fight off viruses, human cells can end up suffering collateral damage in the process.
The study participants also showed signs that the lining of their blood vessels had been damaged, which also may have contributed to the appearance of the purple rashes on their toes, the authors noted.
These findings fall in line with those of a very small study published in 2020 in the journal Dermatopathology, The New York Times reported. The study included only three patients, but it hinted that the trio developed toe rashes due to a strong interferon-driven immune response. This fiery immune response might help ward off the coronavirus, but it also may have resulted in the lingering rashes, the authors suggested in their report.
At the time of the study, nearly 60% of the patients showed symptoms that were consistent with mild COVID-19, such as loss of smell or coughing, but all were negative for the virus on a PCR test.
In general, COVID toes usually appear one to four weeks after a person contracts SARS-CoV-2,the virus that causes COVID-19, and the rashes can sometimes linger for months, The Guardian reported.
So it’s not surprising that someone would test negative for COVID-19 despite having COVID-related rashes on their feet, considering the rashes might emerge after the virus has been cleared from their system.
Health Insurance & Covid Toes
Health insurance covers covid only if you have inpatient health insurance. Many people opt only for outpatient insurance, which doesn’t cover trips to your local doctor or clinic. Covid toes do not require hospitalization and can be treated on an outpatient basis.