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Case Reports
. 2022 Jul 22:9:918721.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.918721. eCollection 2022.

Case Report: Subacute thyroiditis after receiving inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (BBIBP-CorV)

Linhua Pi  1   2   3 , Jian Lin  1   2   3 , Ying Zheng  4 , Zhen Wang  1   2   3 , Zhiguang Zhou  1   2   3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Case Report: Subacute thyroiditis after receiving inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (BBIBP-CorV)

Linhua Pi et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: Subacute thyroiditis, an inflammatory disease, has been reported caused by vaccines in rare cases. In the context of the coronavirus disease 19 pandemic, various SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been developed and may be potential triggers for subacute thyroiditis.

Case presentation: We report a case of subacute thyroiditis 3 days after receiving the second dose of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (BBIBP-CorV). The patient did not report a previous history of thyroid disease, upper respiratory tract infection, or COVID-19. Physical examination, laboratory testing, ultrasonography, and radioactive iodine uptake were consistent with subacute thyroiditis. During follow-up, the patient recovered from symptoms and signs, and imaging changes except for hypothyroidism, requiring an ongoing thyroxine replacement.

Conclusions: Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may be a causal trigger leading to subacute thyroiditis. Clinicians should be aware of subacute thyroiditis as a possible thyroid-related side effect of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Keywords: BBIBP-CorV; coronavirus disease 2019; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; subacute thyroiditis; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Thyroid ultrasound imaging. Marked hypoechoic lesion on admission (A). Decreased hypoechoic lesion by half when the first follow-up on April 9 (B). Further decreased hypoechoic lesion when the second follow-up on May 21 (C). Disappeared hypoechoic lesion when the third follow-up on September 10 (D).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Thyroid radioactive iodine uptake.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The whole timeline of clinical progression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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