Thread by @DrEricDing

⚠️Worrisome—Potential post-Covid hair dye allergies reported. Scientists at @imperialcollege are investigating how the virus could be reprogramming our immune system. People are experiencing new allergic reactions to hair dye after contracting #COVID19 🧵—
theweek.co.uk/news/uk-news/9…

2) this is potentially real— The BBC reported that the reactions, including rashes and burns, have been recorded by salons in parts of the UK. bbc.co.uk/news/av/health…

3) This is not the first time a connection between this type of allergy and Covid-19 has been suggested. Last winter, rumours swept around the hairdressing community that clients had developed allergies to hair dye after having coronavirus.

4) Scientists at Imperial College London are researching how the virus could be reprogramming our immune system, in a similar way to other illnesses.

5) Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial, told the BBC that “among the very bizarre and horrible things the virus does, one of the things it seems to be able to do is reprogramme, tune up and tune down, different parts of the immune response”.

6) Gemma suffered a reaction to a patch test despite using the same hair dye for years. She had also recovered from a previous Covid infection. Her salon says it has seen 4 clients with the same issue since it began compulsory patch tests for all clients.
bbc.com/news/av/health…