Dermatological Manifestations of Patients with COVID 19: A Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: A global pandemic “Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)” caused by the “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2). It was isolated in December 2019 in Wuhan (China). Skin manifestations of COVID-19 disease are overlooked in the clinical approach to those suspected of this virus focusing on the pulmonary findings. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the dermatological manifestations of COVID-19 in Iraqi patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at general hospitals, primary care centers, and private clinics in three Iraqi cities Baghdad, Babil, and Karbala. The study covered the period from October 2020 – to February 2021. Data regarding the demographic and clinical characteristics of each participant were registered. A thorough physical examination by a dermatologist was conducted for every subject. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: One hundred COVID-19 patients with cutaneous manifestations were enrolled in this study. There were 59 females. Their ages ranged from 19-62 years. Most of the patients were from the age group ≤ 40 years (68). Just above half of the participants were non-healthcare workers. The highest blood group of the patients was A (45) and the least AB (11). Half of the subjects were presented within the first 7 days from the onset of the disease. Fifty-one cases were with mild disease form. In 54 patients, dermatological manifestations have appeared in the active stage of the disease. Hair loss was the commonest manifestation (30), all of them in the age group ≤ 40 years, and the majority of the cases (26) was affecting the female. While the least manifestation was acrocyanosis in 2 patients, both of them were male and from the age group > 40 years. There were highly statistically significant differences between the skin manifestations and the age and gender (P-value = 0.000). Conclusion: Most of the patients were from the age group ≤ 40 years and female. Hair loss was the commonest skin abnormality due to COVID-19.  The majority of cutaneous manifestations were started in the active phase of the infection. The age and gender determined the type of dermatological manifestations.

Keywords

• covid_19
• dermatological manifestations
• age
• gender
• multicenter study