Development of bilateral episcleritis and rheumatoid arthritis after a new coronavirus infection: a description of a clinical case

In December 2019, the world faced a new infectious disease, called the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), whose spread has become pandemic. The infection that remains with us to the present day can cause very severe respiratory symptoms up to total lung damage and death, as well as serious systemic manifestations associated with excessive activation of immune mechanisms. Currently, there are many cases of secondary autoimmune processes, often forming full-fledged autoimmune diseases, in people who have had a new coronavirus infection.We present a clinical observation of episcleritis developed on the background of COVID-19, and then an articular syndrome onset that met the classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. The unusual debut of the articular syndrome in this patient, the difficulties of early diagnosis of the disease, as well as possible mechanisms of the formation of such associations are discussed.