Autoimmune complications of COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still propagating a year after the start of the pandemic. Besides the complications patients face during the COVID-19 disease period, there is an accumulating body of evidence concerning the late-onset complications of COVID-19, of which autoimmune manifestations have attracted remarkable attention from the first months of the pandemic. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, autoimmune thyroid diseases, Kawasaki disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and the detection of autoantibodies are the cues to the discovery of the potential of COVID-19 in inducing autoimmunity. Clarification of the pathophysiology of COVID-19 injuries to the host, whether it is direct viral injury or autoimmunity, could help to develop appropriate treatment.