Pandemic chilblains: Are they SARS-CoV-2-related or not?

ABSTRACT

The exact etiopathology of chilblains observed during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still unclear. Initially, SARS-CoV-2 appeared as the obvious causing agent, but two years of various investigations have failed to convincingly support its direct implication. Most affected individuals have no detectable virus, no anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and no symptoms of COVID-19. Analyses of skin biopsies similarly failed to unambiguously demonstrate presence of the virus or its genome. In a recent hypothesis, SARS-CoV-2 would cause the lesions before being promptly eliminated by unusually strong type I interferon responses. With others, we feel that environmental factors have not been sufficiently considered, in particular cold exposure related to unprecedented containment measures. The cause of pandemic chilblains remains a stimulating puzzle which warrants further investigation.