Prevalence of Circulating Parvovirus Genome in Recently Diagnosed Graves' Disease: a Case-control Study

Lymphocytic thyroiditis is the most common autoimmune disease, usually affecting young women. Although the aetiology and pathogenesis remain obscure, the most widely accepted hypothesis is an interaction between a genetic predisposition and an environmental trigger factor such as viral infection. Parvovirus infections have been proposed as trigger factors for Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease.