A strange honeycomb rash appeared on a child’s stomach and grew more painful over weeks, until doctors traced the unusual skin damage to how he used his laptop

A mysterious rash on a child’s abdomen initially looked like bruising from an injury. But when the marks became more tender and began affecting the skin, doctors had to reconsider what was causing them.

The unusual case, reported by doctors from University Hospitals of Leicester in BMJ Case Reports on September 8, involved a pre-teen boy who was otherwise well. According to the case report by Mara Znagoveanu and Edward Artley, the child presented with a reticulated, or net-like, rash on his abdomen that had initially been thought to be related to trauma.