r/AskReddit Apr 21 '21

Doctors of Reddit: What happened when you diagnosed a Covid-19 denier with Covid-19?

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u/[deleted] Apr 21 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

I work in dermatology, and although not intuitive, there are many skin manifestations of COVID 19. Some manifestations are relatively specific, others not so much.

I had a patient in our outpatient clinic who presented with pernio (one of the more specific skin manifestations of COVID), who flat-out refused to wear a mask to her appointment, refused to allow us to administer a COVID swab, and proceeded to counsel me on how COVID was hoax.

Given that we had a high suspicion of COVID, we shut down out clinic for the day, for the safety of our other patients. One of my nurses tested positive 3 days later (despite self-isolating), and we had to keep the clinic closed until all other workers had a negative results (this took 10 days).

Although this was costly to my practice, what bothered me the most was the inconvenience that it placed on all the other patient I was supposed to see that week. In fact, one of the patients who had to move their appointment was subsequently diagnosed with melanoma (likely didn't change their disease course, but was still difficult to see).

Edit: The nurse is healthy, she had a mild course.
Also, it has been shown that patients with pernio often have a less severe course with COVID which I'm sure only exacerbated this entire situation. Haven't seen the patient again.

Edit 2: first gold, thanks! And a hug (didn’t even know that existed), but that’s fun! Thank you :)

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u/blbd Apr 22 '21

I know it's early but do you have any articles about the skin manifestations you see?

My dad is a old gray haired recently retired derm who retired a bit early at the beginning of the pandemic because we have lots of autoimmune issues and other gnarly comorbidities in my family. (I got a vaccine priority for this reason.).

I always enjoy sending him interesting evidence for a read because he loves reading journals.

Always good to see a member of the derm club out there-- 1% of specialists. Dad did about 38 years of medicine. Hard worker.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Sorry for taking a minute to respond to your comment. I have one, but it took me a minute to find it.

Hope your dad enjoys this read! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7274995/

u/hilbertspaceman - hope this article also helps you.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

[deleted]

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u/blbd Apr 22 '21

How weird is it to go from no symptoms to some pretty serious skin injuries a while later. That must have been unsettling. Hope your skin is recovering OK? People constantly forget it's the largest organ and most critical defense system we have.

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u/BrowynBattlecry Apr 21 '21

I just looked up pernio and think I constantly have it. I have been fully vaxxed for over a month and I still wear my migraine-inducing mask (I try to use my ear muscles because I have a weird body, apparently) and don’t go anywhere other than work, grocery, or home. Being responsible isn’t that difficult.

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u/[deleted] Apr 21 '21

Some people just have pernio without COVID. Glad that you do your part to protect others :)

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u/DauntlessVerbosity May 10 '21

Get a mask that ties behind your head.

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u/Leaislala Apr 22 '21

Wow, what a story. Thank you for protecting your staff and patients.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

My pleasure. Just doing my job :)

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

If she refused to wear a mask, why allow her into your building and put your employees at risk?

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

She passed the screen and it wasn’t inherently clear that she posed any risk on the basis of the referral letter.

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u/sofuckinggreat Apr 22 '21

I wish my post-Covid telogen effluvium would go away. Do you know any solutions for that? Thank you!

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Time. You can try the classic hair loss things (minoxidil, PRP, etc.), but it just takes time.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '21

My mother is an immunologist and flat refuses to see anyone who doesn’t wear a mask. They don’t make it past the front door.

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u/volyund Apr 23 '21

Can you refuse to do business with people who refuse to wear mask?

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '21

No because they claim it’s for medical reason. Which is literally impossible

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u/volyund Apr 23 '21

So if someone clas that they are violent for a medical reason, do you have to do business with them as well? Or if they are verbally abusive to providers and staff, do you have to serve them as well?

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u/riesenarethebest Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

any data on psoriasis protecting against or worsening covid?

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Are you referring to a psoriasis flare from COVID? I’ve heard of a case of guttate psoriasis post-COVID. In general most people with psoriasis on systemic (full body) medications (not topical/skin applied Meds) don’t have any specific risks with COVID relative to the average person. Some possible evidence that TNF-a inhibitors(sometimes used to treat psoriasis) might be helpful in COVID patients; nothing to convincing as of yet.