Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 7, 2025

A High-Throughput Multiplexed Screening for Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac Diseases, and COVID-19
Published on: July 5, 2022
COVID-19 and thyroid disease: An infodemiological pilot study.
Ioannis Ilias1, Charalampos Milionis2, Eftychia Koukkou2
1Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Elena Venizelou Hospital, Athens GR-11521, Greece. iiliasmd@yahoo.com.
Google searches for COVID-19 symptoms and terms often precede thyroid-related searches. This suggests a potential link between actual COVID-19 cases and public interest in thyroid conditions, especially during the Delta variant period.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Digital Health
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Google Trends data can reflect disease epidemiology.
- COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) searches have been linked to COVID-19 epidemiology.
- Previous studies suggest a connection between COVID-19 and thyroid disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare COVID-19 cases with COVID-19-associated and thyroid-associated Google Trends searches.
- To investigate the relationship between COVID-19 epidemiology and online search behavior for thyroid conditions.
Main Methods:
- Collected worldwide weekly Google Trends data for COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, symptoms (smell, taste, cough), and thyroid terms (thyroid, thyroiditis, subacute thyroiditis) over 92 weeks.
- Gathered worldwide weekly COVID-19 case statistics for the same period.
- Performed cross-correlation and mediation analyses, splitting the study period to account for different SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Main Results:
- Significant positive correlations were found between COVID-19 cases and Google Trends searches for symptoms and COVID-19 terms.
- COVID-19 cases preceded searches for symptoms, COVID-19 terms, and thyroid terms in the second study period.
- COVID-19 cases were associated with thyroid-related searches in both periods, with mediation observed in the second period.
Conclusions:
- Online searches for COVID-19 symptoms and terms frequently lead thyroid-related searches, particularly during the Delta variant's prevalence.
- This temporal relationship supports potential associations between COVID-19 cases and apparent thyroid disease, as reflected in search trends.
Related Concept Videos
Synthesis and Regulation of Thyroid Hormones
Upon reaching the thyroid gland, TSH stimulates the follicular cells' active uptake of iodide ions from the blood. The ions diffuse to the apical surface of the cells and are oxidized to iodine. The...
The Thyroid Gland
The follicles have a central cavity lined by simple cuboidal to squamous epithelial cells called follicular cells. These cells produce the glycoprotein...
Functions of Thyroid Hormones
TH is indispensable for the normal development and maturation of the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems during fetal and childhood growth. It facilitates bone mineral turnover and regulates protein synthesis in developing tissues, contributing significantly to overall growth and...
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Study Designs in Epidemiology
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and...
Factors Affecting Illness
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness,...

