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What Is COVID Tongue, and Is It a brand new Sign You’ve Been Infected ?

Now there’s a brand-new one to keep an eye on: COVID tongue.
COVID-19 has been causing strange symptoms for months, according to sources. COVID toes, irregular skin rashes, and a loss of taste and smell were all symptoms of the virus, which later became a “official” symptom. We are about to find out if Covid Tongue will also join the list.

A large number of COVID-19 patients are developing bumps on their tongue, as well as inflammation and swelling, according to a research letter published in the British Journal of Dermatology. The letter analyzed the data from 666 patients at a temporary field hospital in Spain and discovered that about half of them had mucocutaneous symptoms.

covid tongue

More than a quarter of the people had signs in their mouth, such as inflammation of the skin’s bumps and general redness and swelling of the tongue. Patients also complained of a burning feeling in their mouth as well as a loss of taste.

Is COVID tongue, for starters, a real thing?

Yes, that is true. Rajeev Fernando, MD, an infectious disease physician who works in field hospitals around USA, tells Health, “I’ve seen a few.”

Some physicians, such as Richard Watkins, MD, an infectious disease physician and professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, haven’t seen this in COVID-19 patients, but there may be a cause. Dr. Watkins tells Health that patients “always wear a mask, and I don’t ask them to take their mask off.”

According to Thomas Russo, MD, professor and head of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, COVID tongue is possibly underreported as a result of this. “Most doctors concentrate on the heart, lungs, and belly, and in the age of COVID-19, they overlook the mouth even more because it increases their risk of infection,” he says. “It’s likely that a lot of people have overlooked this.”

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What causes COVID tongue?

It’s worth noting that what’s been called COVID tongue isn’t actually exclusive to COVID-19. “Mucocutaneous symptoms may be caused by a variety of viruses,” says Dr. Russo. Dr. Fernando is in agreement. He claims that “these signs aren’t a slam dunk for a COVID-19 diagnosis.”

Although this effect hasn’t been thoroughly investigated, Dr. Russo believes it’s “biologically possible” that COVID-19 will cause tongue swelling.

This is how Dr. Fernando describes it: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that activates COVID-19, latches onto enzymes called ACE receptors in your cells. The virus then enters your bodies, replicates, and causes you to become ill. “Since the tongue has so many ACE receptors, the virus concentrates heavily in this region,” he says. “There would be a lot of COVID in the tongue.” This can result in signs such as tongue bumps and swelling.

What should you do if you think you have COVID tongue?

According to Dr Fernando, you are unlikely to develop COVID tongue without other symptoms. Instead, tongue anomalies are most likely to appear with other, more obvious signs like a cough, shortness of breath, or lack of taste and smell. “It’ll be one of plenty of other signs,” he suggests.
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If your tongue hurts or seems weird, Dr Russo suggests it may be a symptom of another infection or that you just ate something that irritated your tongue.
He claims that “both of these oral and mucocutaneous manifestations appear to be nonspecific.” Though tongue symptoms “might raise your suspicion for coronavirus infection,” other symptoms are more likely to cause the diagnostic pathway.

Bottom line: Don’t neglect bumps or inflammation on your tongue, but also don’t be alarmed if you do.


Although D1 strives to keep our stories as current as possible, we also urge readers to use the CDC, WHO, and their local public health department as tools to remain updated on news and advice for their own communities.

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Author: KP Sana Premium Member
AcciDental 😂

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