The American Academy of Dermatology has created a global registry to log skin conditions seen in patients with COVID-19, as well as to monitor responses to the virus in patients with existing dermatological conditions.

Inspired by a similar registry created by the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance, Dr Esther Freeman, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues in the Academy’s COVID-19 Task Force, developed the idea for the online dermatology registry on 30 March and opened it on 8 April.

The International League of Dermatological Societies is collaborating on the registry as well. Any health worker can enter a case, including non-dermatologists and non-members around the world. The process takes about five minutes and doesn’t require private patient information.

“We started hearing reports from colleagues and on social media about skin manifestations and wondered what COVID-19 would mean for our patients, especially those on certain medications,” said Dr Freeman.