Inflammatory Arthritis Associated with COVID-19 Vaccination

Sai Man Mung; Tee Lin Goh; Michael Hughes; Edward B Jude

doi:10.7759/cureus.35951

Inflammatory Arthritis Associated with COVID-19 Vaccination

Cureus. 2023 Mar 9;15(3):e35951. doi: 10.7759/cureus.35951. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Sai Man Mung¹, Tee Lin Goh², Michael Hughes³, Edward B Jude^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Diabetes and Endocrinology, Royal Preston Hospital, Preston, GBR.
² Endocrinology, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Ashton under Lyne, GBR.
³ Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, GBR.
⁴ Endocrinology, University of Manchester, Manchester, GBR.

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be highly efficacious in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections throughout the pandemic. There have been emerging cases of inflammatory arthritis occurring in close relation to COVID-19 vaccination. We illustrate a case of new-onset inflammatory arthritis 10 days after receiving their second Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine. The patient responded dramatically to prednisolone treatment but subsequently required hydroxychloroquine due to persistent inflammatory joint symptoms. Inflammatory arthritis is an increasingly recognized rare adverse effect of COVID-19 vaccination and clinicians should actively consider this in patients with new or flares of inflammatory joint disease.

Keywords: astrazeneca covid vaccine; covid-19; inflammatory arthritis; vaccination related arthritis; vaccine adverse effect.

Publication types

Case Reports