Doctors hope X-ray comparisons can boost COVID-19 vaccination rates
A health system serving Missouri, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Illinois is hoping that imaging results can encourage more people to seek out a COVID-19 vaccine. With infection rates in the Midwest, especially Missouri, continuing to rise, can this new strategy make an impact?
SSM Health, a nonprofit system based out of St. Louis, has started publicizing two X-rays—one from a vaccinated person with COVID-19 and one from an unvaccinated person with COVID-19. St. Louis-based KSDK covered the health system’s new approach on its website.
Ghassan Kamel, MD, director of the Medical ICU at SSM Health SLU Hospital in St. Louis, emphasized to KSDK how much more troublesome the X-ray from the unvaccinated person looks when you review them side by side.
The unvaccinated patient, Kamel said, almost certainly needs to seek treatment.
“They definitely at least would require oxygen and sometimes they would require more than just oxygen,” he said. “They might require the ventilator or get intubated on mechanical ventilation, sedated, and basically on life support.”
The X-ray from the vaccinated patient, on the other hand, shows fewer signs that medical attention is required. And if that individual does need to visit a hospital, they most likely won’t require ICU admission or anything else that severe.
It is also rare for a vaccinated patient to be infected, KSDK added.
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Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.