COVID toes

English

Etymology

Blend of COVID-19 +‎ toe. From being first observed in children who tested positive for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection).

Noun

COVID toes pl (plural only)

1. (pathology, informal, neologism) A PIIRS (“post-inflammatory infectious response syndrome”) associated with COVID-19, affecting mostly children, showing up as reddish or bluish swollen toes or fingers, with blisters or peeling skin.
   • 2020 January 14, “COVID Toes”, in Precision Foot and Ankle, P.A.‎^[1]:

     COVID toes usually begin with the patient noticing red or purple discoloration of the toes, and in some cases the skin can become raised or develop ulcerations.

   • 2020 April 21, Adrianna Rodriguez, “What are 'COVID toes'? Doctors discover symptom of coronavirus mostly seen in kids”, in USA Today‎^[2]:

     Doctors identified a new symptom of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, informally dubbed “COVID toes.” The presence of purple or blue lesions on a patient’s feet and toes puzzles infectious disease experts.

   • 2020 June 25, Hernandez, Claudia, and Anna L. Bruckner, “Focus on “COVID toes””, in JAMA dermatology, →DOI, page 1003:

     Also known as pernio-like, pseudo-chilblain, acute acro-ischemia, and “COVID toes,” the pattern of acral lesions is described as erythematous to purple purpuric macules, papules, and/or vesicles.

   • 2021 April 13, Kashetsky, Nadia, Ilya M. Mukovozov, and James Bergman, “Chilblain-Like Lesions (CLL) Associated With COVID-19 (“COVID Toes”): A Systematic Review”, in Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, →DOI:

     Since April 2020 there has been a reported surge in the literature of chilblain-like lesions (CLL) coinciding with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This chilblain-like acral pattern, mainly affecting the toes, has been referred to as “COVID toes.”

Synonyms

• MIS-C (North America)
• PIMS-TS (Europe)
• PMIS (“pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome”)
• COVID-19 Kawasaki-like syndrome
• COVID-19 Kawasaki-like disease

Coordinate terms

• HCoV-NH (a virus thought associated with Kawasaki disease)
• Kawasaki disease

Further reading

• COVID toes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia