Scientists have compiled a list of COVID-19’s most unusual symptoms, which may or may not indicate infection.

As more COVID-19 variants emerge, the list of symptoms caused by infection will continue to grow. Scientists from the University of East Anglia, like Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine Dr. Vassilios Vassiliou, have found this to be true.

The most common symptoms that prompt us to take a coronavirus test include fever, cough, loss or loss of smell or taste, sore throat, stuffy nose, runny nose, and headache. But what about the “silent” symptoms and indicators that are similar to the ordinary cold and flu but not identical?

1. Skin rashes

A scientific team in which Dr. Vassiliou participated had identified skin rashes as a symptom of COVID-19, as the first coronavirus infection for 17% of patients with multiple symptoms and the only one for 21%. Snow-like skin lesions, urticaria, and chickenpox-like blisters were the main skin symptoms, but they usually resolve on their own, usually within a few days and rarely weeks. In persistent cases, they may need special treatment from a dermatologist.

2. Covid nails

In another study by Dr. Basil and medical researchers Nikhil Aggarwal and Subothini Sara Selvendran, COVID-19 infection was associated with discolored or deformed nails in patients a few weeks later. Signs of nail disease include:

• Beau lines, horizontal grooves or streaks that appear at the base of the nail when there is a temporary disorder in the growth of the nail due to physical stress, such as an infection, malnutrition or side effects of treatments such as chemotherapy.
• Mees lines are attributed to the abnormal production of proteins in the nails due to systemic disorders.
• A red crescent pattern that looks like a curve over the white area at the base of the nail and for which the immune mechanism that triggers it is ignored.

Based on limited statistics, it is estimated that “Covid nails” will appear in 1-2% of patients days or weeks after infection, accompanied by pain at the beginning but which will subside within a few weeks.

3. Hair loss

Researchers from Brazil found that hair loss was the most common symptom (48%) among about 6,000 people after major coronavirus disease. Experts explain that hair loss is due to the intense stress experienced by the body, however it is something that happens in other stressful situations such as childbirth and the loss is compensated over time and the restoration of body function to normal levels.

4. Hearing loss and tinnitus

It is common for viral infections such as the flu and measles to infect the cells of the inner ear with hearing loss and tinnitus following. A study of 560 participants found hearing loss of 3.1% and tinnitus of 4.5%, while another study found damage to the inner ear virus that made it difficult to detect high frequencies.

What causes the symptoms

Although the mechanisms that trigger the symptoms are still being investigated, scientists believe that a “cytokine storm” is responsible, a complication that describes the body’s inflammatory response and may disrupt sensory function (eg, hearing loss and tinnitus) and capillaries that bleed organs such as the ears, skin and nails.

Image Credit: Getty

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