COVID Tongue Becomes A New Symptom Of COVID-19, Beware Of Its Characteristics

Illustration. (Jakayla Toney / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - One year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of the coronavirus continues, both symptoms of infection until a new variant of the virus is successfully revealed. One of them is knowing the infection through the tongue.

In a Spanish study it was found that a swollen or uneven tongue may be a sign of coronavirus infection. The researchers found that one in four coronavirus patients noticed changes in their tongue.

Starting from swelling, sores, bumps on the surface of the tongue, indentations and/or spots that change color. A small proportion of patients also report a burning sensation in their mouth, as sciencealert reported.

These symptoms are often combined with patients who have lost their sense of taste, which has emerged as a sign of an increasingly common virus, the findings were based on the observations of 666 patients with COVID-19 and mild or moderate pneumonia at a field hospital in Spain.

It is not clear whether these symptoms can spread. Because the patients included in this study had moderate cases of infection. Researchers aren't sure if this symptom, dubbed the 'COVID tongue', might also affect people with the severe coronavirus, or those with milder cases.

Although viral infections are known to cause symptoms in the mouth and tongue, there is not much data on this phenomenon in COVID-19 patients. This may be because doctors are reluctant to linger with the patient's mouth, because of the safety associated with a highly contagious virus.

The new findings were presented on January 26, but were first published in September in the 'British Journal of Dermatology'.

Apart from the tongue, this study also revealed that about 40 percent of patients experience skin problems on the palms of the hands or feet. These include a burning sensation, redness, peeling skin and small bumps. One from ten patients also develop a rash.