**5. Infectious scleritis in rheumatic diseases**

It has been shown that in patients with scleral inflammation lasting over 12 years, 7.5% of them had infectious complications, usually caused by herpes zoster virus [88]. Infectious complications can be even more frequent in patients with rheumatic diseases who are chron‐ ically treated with immunosuppressive drugs. The use of immunosuppressive drugs can cause reactivation of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection which, in the form of nod‐ ular scleritis may occur in the eye [89]. There are reports of the occurrence of tuberculosis uveitis during treatment with etanercept (soluble anti TNF inhibitor) [90].
