Background:
Myositis has been reported to be associated or triggered by
viruses. Genetic and environmental factors are documented
risk for
myopathies.
Viruses have also been shown to modify the
clinical course of auto-
immune diseases. We therefore
report a case of SARS-Cov-2 infection in a 26-year-old
female black Zambian
patient with proximal
myopathy. Case Presentation We present the case of a 26-yearold chemical factory
worker with severe
acute respiratory distress syndrome corona
virus 2 (
SARS-cov-2)
infection and proximal
myopathy. She presented to a local
private hospital with
fever, weakness and flu-like symptoms after being exposed to a colleague diagnosed with SARS-cov-2 infection at the
time Zambia declared the July 2021 third
wave of
SARS-cov-2pandemic. She also reported difficulties in climbing stairs, had Raynaud's phenomenon, proximal
myopathy, classic
dermatomyositis features, symptoms of
systemic sclerosis, raised
creatine phosphokinase (CPK), and a positive nasopharyngeal
PCR test for SARS-Cov-2 infection.
Conclusions:
We presented, for the first
time in
Zambia, the case of a
patient with SARS-Cov-2 infection and severe proximal
myopathy secondary to newly diagnosed
dermatomyositis and overlap
systemic sclerosis. The
myopathy appeared to have been worsened by
SARS-Cov-2 viral infection.