Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2-Associated Blepharoconjunctivitis and Erythema Multiforme-Like Rash in a Young Man.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the diagnosis and management of bilateral blepharoconjunctivitis and erythema multiforme (EM)-like illness in an otherwise healthy young man who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2. METHODS: This is a case report of a 27 year-old man with a positive result for SARS-CoV-2 testing who presented with fever, eye redness, oral ulcerations, cough, sore throat, and progressive rash suspicious for EM-like illness. RESULTS: A SARS-CoV-2-positive patient presented to the emergency room with a progressing skin rash, bilateral conjunctivitis, and oropharyngeal mucosal ulcers. On initial ophthalmic examination, visual acuity was 20/25 both eyes (OU), and slit lamp examination demonstrated erythema and ulceration of the eyelid margins with fluorescein uptake at the mucocutaneous junction OU. The patient was admitted for observation and supportive treatment. During and after his hospital stay, he was treated with systemic and topical steroids, topical cyclosporine ophthalmic drops, erythromycin ophthalmic ointment, and artificial tears. At his 1-week follow-up visit after hospital discharge, the patient had complete resolution of his skin findings and improvement of his ocular and oral mucosal findings. Laboratory workup and imaging studies searching for other potential autoimmune and infectious etiologies showed negative results. CONCLUSIONS: Topical antiinflammatory drops, artificial tears, erythromycin ointment, and systemic steroids were an effective treatment for this bilateral blepharoconjunctivitis and EM-like presentation of SARS-CoV-2.

Erythema multiforme in a young adult following COVID-19 infection and vaccination in Tanzania.

We report the case of a young female adult in her early 20s, who had COVID-19 infection for 8 weeks and COVID-19 vaccination 4 weeks prior to presentation with an extensive rash associated with erythema multiforme, resembling varicella zoster on initial presentation. After initial acyclovir therapy with no improvement, systemic corticosteroid treatment dramatically resolved the patient's skin rash.

Oral erythema multiforme after Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination: a report of four cases.

BACKGROUND: The 2019 Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has affected thousands of people worldwide. To date, vaccines appear to be the only method to prevent and reduce mortality. Four vaccinations have been outwardly approved by European Medicine Agency (EMA) in Europe: BNT162b2 (Comirnaty-BioNTech/Pfizer), mRNA-1273 (Spikevax-Moderna), ChAdOx1 (VaxzevriaAstrazeneca), and Ad26.COV2-S (Janssen-Johnson&Johnson). After vaccination, local and systemic adverse effects can occur. Cutaneous reactions like urticaria, local injection site pain, morbilliform rash have been documented after vaccination. CASES PRESENTATION: We report four cases of oral erythema multiforme flare arising after BNT162b2 vaccination administration. All the patients denied previous erythema-like and herpetic manifestations history. Two of the reported cases (number 1 and 2) presented with both oral and cutaneous lesions, while cases 3 and 4 showed only oral manifestations. Three of the cases presented the erythema after the first vaccination dosage administration, only one case reported lesions after the second vaccination dosage administration. All the cases were treated with prednisone via oral administration and topical 0.05% clobetasol ointment. CONCLUSIONS: The present reports represent some of the few cases of erythema multiforme occurring as a side effect of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination. The causal role of the vaccine for the erythema multiforme has not been proven yet; nevertheless, it is not uncommon for medications to trigger this disease. The vaccine could surface a silent herpes virus infection, which would induce the erythema multiforme instead.