Cutaneous manifestations in a patient with covid-19 treated at a hospital in the peruvian jungle. A case report

Abstract

Introduction: Most patients infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experience mild to moderate symptoms. This condition may affect multiple organs and systems, including the skin, and cutaneous manifestations are varied. Although several studies on COVID-19 have been con-ducted in Peru, to date, this type of manifestation has not been described in the Peruvian population, especially in environments with high prevalence of viral diseases that cause similar dermatological lesions, such as the Peruvian jungle. Case presentation: A 16-year-old male patient with no relevant medical history was admitted to a hospital in the Peruvian jungle due to headache, chills, general malaise, and respiratory distress. On physical examination, oxygen saturation was 89-90%, and a skin rash was observed; it was char-acterized by non-evanescent, confluent, pruritic, and symmetrical morbilliform lesions in the limbs, abdomen, thorax, and face, without mucous membrane involvement. Due to the shortage of molec-ular tests in the region where he was treated, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 based on serological (serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 (IgM+ and IgG+)) and radiological criteria (imaging findings com-patible with COVID-19 atypical pneumonia). The initial treatment included the administration of ceftriaxone, azithromycin, dexamethasone, cetirizine, as well as the use of oxygen by binasal can-nula. After 5 days and given the persistence of symptoms and respiratory and skin signs, treatment with ivermectin was started. 48 hours after the introduction of this treatment, the cutaneous and re-spiratory manifestations had completely resolved.

Conclusions: Patients with COVID-19 may develop several cutaneous manifestations similar to those produced by other viruses or adverse drug reactions. Therefore, it is necessary to appropri-ately interview the patient and establish the chronological order of symptom onset to diagnose this disease correctly.