Belgian dermatologists have very recently observed a clear raise in the incidence of (giant) urticaria, (urticarial) vasculitis, erythema multiforme (EEM), petechial rash etc. in both children and adults. Some skin manifestations are similar to cutaneous involvement occurring during common viral infections. Indeed, an initial poll issued by the Belgian Society of Dermatologists indicates that these particular skin eruptions, often seen during the course of (common) viral infections are more frequently encountered amid the current COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, Chinese and Italian dermatologists, as well as other colleagues, have seen similar eruptions as a prodromal or accompanying symptom of a COVID-19 infection. The French Society of Dermatologists recently also reported on numerous cases, with heterogeneous skin signs, in some cases with proven COVID-19 infection. They stress that the relation with COVID-19 needs more investigation. However, when looking at the results of RT-PCR and anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, often these remain negative and thus exclude the possibility of a COVID-19 infection. Alternatively, as a differential diagnosis, these eruptions could represent drug eruptions, as several citizens may have started taking certain anti-flu remedies or other medication.

In the past and following months of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we will collect data on patients with skin eruptions from various Belgian medical specialists (primarily dermatologists) For this purpose, we have designed an e-registry termed DERMCovid to which these physicians will be able to submit individual patient data, describing on one hand the skin eruption, and on the other hand the systemic symptoms of the patients as well as the status of his/her potential COVID-19 infection. To acquire as much input as possible, the questionnaire has been designed to collect even the slightest suspected case of “a skin eruption occurring in any patient with potentially COVIDrelated (respiratory and/or other) symptoms''. An Ethics Committee approval to use the registry has been obtained on April 16, 2020 (UGent, UAntwerpen,UCLouvain). Every patient will give his/her informed consent to register health data, including clinical pictures of the skin eruption (excluding pictures which make identification possible). All data will be anonymized.