Dermatology staff participate in fight against Covid‐19 in China

Abstract

In December 2019, a series of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, was caused by a novel coronavirus (Covid-19), 1,2 has become a global health concern. 3 At present, the epidemic in China has been well controlled, but Covid-19 is currently spreading in many other countries all over the world.Dermatologists in China have participated in the fight against Covid-19.In this paper, we share our experiences in dealing with skin diseases in this special period and hope to provide some references for international colleagues in the epidemic situation.Fever can occur either in novel coronavirus pneumonia patients or in infectious dermatosis patients, such as varicella, measles and erysipelas.For patients with fever and skin lesions, we should distinguish whether it is caused by pneumonia or by skin diseases.Respiratory symptoms and inquiry of an epidemiological history is important for clinical differentiation.We also met a patient of Covid-19 combined with other communicable diseases such as dengue fever which was noted for low platelet counts in her peripheral blood when screening pneumonia.At present, there are still no specific drugs for novel coronavirus pneumonia treatment.Self-use or prescription use of drugs including OTC, antibiotics, healthcare products and a variety of Chinese herbals and plant extracts was more than usual.This leads to the rising incidence of drug eruptions both in Covid-19 patients and healthy persons.Novel coronavirus pneumonia patients presented acute urticaria, urticaria vasculitis and other pruritus lesions after accepting anti-Covid-19 medicines.The possibility of allergic reactions caused by drugs should be considered by dermatologists.Aggravation of previous skin diseases, such as rosacea, eczema, atopic dermatitis and neurodermatitis, was also observed in some Covid-19 patients.For emotional tension during the outbreak might aggravate these diseases, we should attach importance to the psychological counselling for these patients.Facial acne and rosacea occurred or aggravated due to prolonged use of masks during the epidemic.Frequent use of skin disinfectants increased the incidence of contact dermatitis, not only in Covid-19 patients but also in healthy persons and medical workers.Many dermatologists open free online consultation to offer help to these persons in China.Different treatment strategies for some sskin diseases should be considered during the epidemic.People with several skin