Urticaria associated with COVID-19 in allergic patients. A case series

Abstract

Introduction: In December 2019, a new coronavirus was identified as the causal agent of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with a wide clinical spectrum that goes from asymptomatic cases to critical and fatal cases. Its usual manifestations are fever, cough, and fatigue; although some cases present skin lesions.

Cases report: The first case was a 30-year-old woman with a history of controlled solar urticaria who presented erythematous and pruritic wheals in malar and cervical regions and extremities; associated with general malaise, headaches, and nausea, in whom the presence of COVID-19 was confirmed; her condition improved with a quadruple dose of antihistamines. The second case was a 47-year-old woman with a history of wasp sting anaphylaxis, without mastocytosis, who presented nasal congestion, headaches, and hypogeusia associated with generalized, erythematous, and pruritic wheals, with confirmation of COVID-19; her condition improved with quadruple doses of antihistamines.

Conclusions: Cutaneous manifestations associated with COVID-19 are frequent and can be classified as inflammatory and vascular. Among them, urticarial lesions occupy the fourth place, and although there could be some predominance of these in patients with a history of allergies, more studies are required to define an association.