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Petechial Skin Rash Associated With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection

Educational Objective
To understand that petechial skin rashes may be associated with cases of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is filling the headlines these days. Although it is known that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be associated with skin manifestations, a limited number of images are available in the literature at this time. This observation reports dermatologic findings associated with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

A 48-year-old man with a history of hypertension presented to the emergency department in March 2020, during the COVID-19 outbreak in Madrid, Spain. He reported an onset of fever (up to 39 °C) several days before admission, along with pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath. He noticed the abrupt appearance of slightly pruritic skin lesions 3 days after the onset of fever. He had not taken any new drugs during the year before this episode.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Borja Diaz-Guimaraens, MD, Dermatology Department, Ramon y Cajal University Hospital, Carretera Colmenar Viejo km 9.100, 28034 Madrid, Spain (borja.diazg@edu.uah.es).

Published Online: April 30, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2020.1741

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Additional Contributions: We thank the patient for granting permission to publish this information. We also thank Carmen Moreno García del Real, MD, PhD (Department of Pathology, Ramon y Cajal University Hospital), for the histopathologic analysis and all of her kind support during the redaction of the manuscript.

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