There’s considerable controversy over whether “COVID toes”—red sores or lesions on the feet and hands in children and young adults—are truly caused by COVID-19.
In a new study, researchers provide evidence in support of the link.
The research was conducted by a team at Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, in Spain.
In most cases, affected people test negative with traditional COVID-19 tests involving throat swabs and measurements of circulating antibodies.
But in the study, the team found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 was present in skin biopsies in children with symptoms of COVID toes, despite negative results from traditional tests.
Their analyses detected the virus in the skin’s blood vessel endothelial cells, as well as in the sweat glands.
Electron microscopy in one biopsy also found evidence of viral particles within endothelial cells.
These findings support a causal relation of SARS-CoV-2 with COVID toes.
The team says endothelial damage induced by the virus could be the key mechanism causing these lesions.
Furthermore, vascular damage could also explain some clinical features seen in patients with severe COVID-19.
One author of the study is Isabel Colmenero, MD from Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús.
The study is published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
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