ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Thyroid Endocrinology
Emerging Evidence from China Indicates SARS-COV-2 May Be Associated with Newly Diagnosed Hashimoto's Thyroiditis:A Clinical Study of 54 Patients with COVID-19 Complicated by Newly Diagnosed Disease
Jingyu Hou 1
Yu Zhang 1
Boyu Zhang 1
Sen Zhao 1
Han Wu 1
Xingxing Li 1
Min Li 1
Yongzhong Guo 2
Ning Song 1
1. Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
2. Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, China
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Abstract
Background: To date, 11 cases of COVID-19-associated newly diagnosed Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) have been reported. To investigate the clinical characteristics and influencing factors of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) complicated by newly diagnosed Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and to inform clinical management. Method: A total of 369 COVID-19 patients were enrolled and divided into three groups: Negative for Antibodies (NA group, n=288), HT group (n=54), and Thyroid Autoimmune (TA group, n=27). The clinical characteristics and influencing factors of the HT group were analyzed. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 statistical software. Results: Patients in the HT group were older than those in the NA group [72.5 (63.5, 79.0) vs. 69 (58.3, 76.0) years, P=0.031]. Fatigue was significantly more common in the HT group compared to both the TA group and the NA group (53.7% vs. 22.2%, and 53.7% vs. 24.0%, all P<0.001). The incidence rates of subclinical hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism in the HT group were significantly higher than in the NA group (29.6% vs. 13.9%, P=0.020; 7.4% vs. 1.7%, P=0.017). Multivariate analysis identified prolonged viral clearance time (OR=1.136) as an independent risk factor for COVID-19 complicated by HT. Advanced age (OR=0.944) and low FT3 (OR=4.233) were identified as independent risk factors for increased mortality risk in COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: COVID-19 patients complicated by HT are typically older, with fatigue being a distinguishing clinical manifestation. They are more prone to thyroid dysfunction, with subclinical hyperthyroidism being the predominant early thyroid function abnormality. Prolonged viral clearance time was identified as a factor associated with newly diagnosed HT.
Summary
Keywords
autoimmune thyroid disease, COVID-19, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Thyroid function, viral clearance time
Received
08 January 2026
Accepted
16 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Hou, Zhang, Zhang, Zhao, Wu, Li, Li, Guo and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Ning Song
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