Replies to post #286478 on Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc (IPIX)

[To infinity and beyond!]

CXR findings: you have to be pretty sick for findings on a plain CXR. For the average person with a cough and a fever and a mild illness their films are normal. However, people sick with corona virus do have abnl CXRs with nonspecific bilat findings.

Right now in Mass people are in the not very sick category.

Likely to change in a week

For disease surveillance/isolation better to find people before they are sick enough to have findings on an xray

[Empiricst1]

I spent close to half of an hour (least ways it felt like that) doing dd re chest x-rays and CT scans re effectiveness, costs, relative dangers, etc. What I most wanted to know was what the costs were after insurance and what the relative safety factors were, as scans expose patients to tons more radiation than a simple x-ray. Regardless, there are not enough CT scanners out there (and won't be) to meet the demand as testing accelerates, as we can hope it will some day.

[MinnieM]

I should have stated CT. Xray is 2D and CT is 3D.

CT provides best diagnosis for COVID-19
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200226151951.htm

According to the latest guidelines published by the Chinese government, the diagnosis of COVID-19 must be confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or gene sequencing for respiratory or blood specimens, as the key indicator for hospitalization. However, with limitations of sample collection and transportation, as well as kit performance, the total positive rate of RT-PCR for throat swab samples has been reported to be about 30% to 60% at initial presentation.

In the current public health emergency, the low sensitivity of RT-PCR implies that a large number of COVID-19 patients won't be identified quickly and may not receive appropriate treatment. In addition, given the highly contagious nature of the virus, they carry a risk of infecting a larger population.

"Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is crucial for disease treatment and control. Compared to RT-PCR, chest CT imaging may be a more reliable, practical and rapid method to diagnose and assess COVID-19, especially in the epidemic area," the authors wrote.

Chest CT, a routine imaging tool for pneumonia diagnosis, is fast and relatively easy to perform. Recent research found that the sensitivity of CT for COVID-19 infection was 98% compared to RT-PCR sensitivity of 71%.

Not all locations will have CT readily available and it may be wise to call ahead if you have multiple ER's in your area. If possible, I'd only go to one that had CT. I'm also thinking in terms of presenting severe symptoms. I really sick, the last thing one wants to do is wait for a covid19 test result to come back.

The CT scan may cost more than the test, but, if hospital stay is shorter the end result could be less expensive. Or, if in a high risk catagory, early results can make the difference between life and death.

I just hope a therapy is found soon and would be really happy if Brilacidin proves to help.







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Someone(KarinCA I think) posted yesterday that China ID'd covid19 by chest x-ray which shows the lungs(not sure the percentage of cases). The post noted that results were much faster than covid19 tests as well as cheaper.