Cutaneous Manifestations of COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers

Youssfi I, Mechergui N, Litaiem N , Youssef I , Gara S , Zegaloui F and Ladhari N

Department of Occupational Health, Charles Nicolle Hospital, Tunisia Department of Dermatology, Charles Nicolle Hospital, Tunisia

^*Correspondance to: Youssfi I 

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Abstract:

Background: Cutaneous manifestations are increasingly reported in patients with COVID-19 disease. A review of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 especially among Health Care Workers (HCW) is thus required. Aims: The aim of our current study was to provide a comprehensive review of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 among HCW through six case reports and a literature review. Methods: We conducted a literature search for cases reports, original and review articles using PubMed and the Google search engines. We included the written in English studies that mentioned cutaneous symptoms during COVID-19 infection. In addition to the review, 6 cases were collected among the HCW working at the Charles Nicolle Hospital of Tunis from September 2020 to January 2021. Results: In our review, we included 17 articles in addition to our six cases. The type of papers was case series and case report in respectively 8 and 9 studies. Skin manifestations were reported in two studies including two HCW, in addition to our series of six HCW. Skin manifestations were: Chilblain like lesions (44.5%), a generalized macular or maculopapular exanthem (32.1%), a papulovesicular rash and chicken pox-like vesicles (11.5%), painful acral red-purple papules (4.6%), urticaria (2.8%), purpuric or petechial lesions (2.3%) and livedo reticularis lesions (0.45%). Of the 218 cases, 203 cases have reported the location of lesions. The very great majority of lesions were found on the trunk, hands and feet. Fifty-one patient (23.4%) experienced lesions on the trunk. The time of onset of cutaneous lesions was variable. At the diagnosis or the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, 8.3% (18/218) of patients presented with cutaneous lesions. After the onset of respiratory symptoms or COVID-19 diagnosis, 36.7% (80/218) of patients presented with cutaneous lesions. Of the 197 cases with reported healing times, healing times were up to 24 days. Conclusion: COVID-19 has been associated with different cutaneous manifestations, likely of varying pathophysiology and severity, some preceding COVID-19 symptomatology and others occurring during active disease or later in the course. Thus, heightened awareness and timely recognition of cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 are important for occupational physicians treating HCW with COVID-19.

Keywords:

Keywords: Cutaneous manifestations; Healthcare workers; COVID-19

Cite the Article:

Youssfi I, Mechergui N, Litaiem N, Youssef I, Gara S, Zegaloui F, et al. Cutaneous Manifestations of COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers. Clin Case Rep Int. 2021;5:1231..