The COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping the world is throwing up some oddities in the clinical manifestations that seem to vary from person to person and in different regions. Different organ systems are affected differently in different amounts in different people. There have been numerous reports in the mass media and in the medical journals of a range of different skin conditions in those infected with coronavirus. One of the odd ones which has been given some attention in the mass media is just how many of those with COVID-19 are getting chilblains, especially children and those who would not normally get a chilblain. Chilblains are reasonably common anyway in the colder climates. The first reports of these chilblains in those with COVID-19 was during the winter in Spain and Italy, so you would expect a number of people to get chilblains anyway. Subsequent research focused on if these were just an incidental finding or if the infection was really causing the chilblains and they are art of the pathophysiological process of the condition. Its still not clear at this stage which on of these is the issue.
An episode of the podiatry related livestream, PodChatLive addressed this issue on chilblains in COVID-19 and the nature of the phenomenon. The hosts of the show discussed the issue with Nadia Dembsky, a podiatrist from South Africa who has a special interest in this topic and is planning on pursing a PhD on the topic. They did especially cover the issues as to if it the chilblains are a part of the pathophysiology of the COVID-19 or if they are just typical everyday chilblains that are just more common in the infected by the coronavirus. This episode of PodChatLive was broadcast live in Facebook and the edited version of the video is on YouTube, as well as an audio version on the usual podcast websites.