During the novel coronavirus outbreak, everyone paid close attention to the epidemic dynamics while doing personal protection. Originally, the communication season in winter and spring is the time when the common cold and influenza are high, and the most important means to control the epidemic situation is to screen out the real COVID-19 pneumonia patients from many respiratory patients. So, how is pneumonia diagnosed in COVID-19?
How to diagnose pneumonia in COVID-19?
First of all, patients with pneumonia in COVID-19 usually have symptoms, although some patients have mild symptoms. Blood routine and chest imaging examination can indicate whether there is the possibility of novel coronavirus pneumonia. Of course, the diagnosis of pneumonia in COVID-19 still depends on the detection of nucleic acid in novel coronavirus. In the near future, there may be blood antibody tests to help diagnose COVID-19 pneumonia.
How to do nucleic acid detection in novel coronavirus?
Novel coronavirus’s sampling method for nucleic acid detection requires neither operation nor injection, but a “light touch”. When you arrive at the fever clinic or the corresponding examination room, the doctor will ask the patient to open his mouth and wipe the secretions near the tonsils and pharyngeal recess with a swab like a cotton swab. You can also take the secretions at the back of the nasopharynx through the nasal cavity, put them in a test tube, and then hand them over to the laboratory for the corresponding viral nucleic acid examination.
Can chest X-ray be used as a diagnostic tool for pneumonia in COVID-19?
In fact, X-ray chest film can also prompt novel coronavirus pneumonia. With the summary of accumulated cases, it can be found that the image of novel coronavirus pneumonia on chest radiograph is very weak, and its distribution is peripheral. Therefore, it can also be seen on well-distributed chest radiographs. Chest CT is the best and most sensitive imaging method for COVID-19 pneumonia. On the level of chest CT after each scan, we can see some invisible angles and weaker shadows on chest radiographs, so that we can prompt the patients early that they may have viral pneumonia. Once these characteristics appear, it is necessary to combine the detection of nucleic acid to diagnose novel coronavirus pneumonia.
Can blood test confirm novel coronavirus?
Studies have shown that the proportion of nucleic acids detected in the blood of patients in novel coronavirus is small, only 15% to 20%. After the invasion of novel coronavirus, the body will produce specific antibodies, and novel coronavirus antibodies IgM and IgG can be detected in blood. However, IgM will appear first and then IgG will appear after 5 days after novel coronavirus infection. At present, researchers in our country have done a lot of work. As for blood testing in novel coronavirus, researchers in China are now focusing on speeding up the optimization of testing technology to improve its specificity and sensitivity.
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