1 CT-Scan equal to 300 chest x-rays: AIIMS Director warns against overuse

AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Monday issued an advisory against the overuse of CT-Scans and biomarkers by COVID-19 patients, saying they are very harmful and one should not resort to it if showing only mild symptoms.

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“CT-Scan and biomarkers are being misused. There is no advantage in doing CT-Scan if you have mild symptoms. One CT-Scan is equivalent to 300 chest x-rays, it’s very harmful,” ANI quoted Guleria as saying. 

The 62-year-old also recommended people who have recovered from the infection to take both doses of the vaccine. “In scientific language, the first dose is priming while the second dose is a booster dose,” Guleria said. 

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He also said that people living in home isolation should keep contacting their doctors regularly. In case their blood oxygen saturation dips to 93 or below, or if there are symptoms such as fainting, chest pain, they should immediately consult with their doctors. 

On Monday, the Union Health Ministry warned a number of states were showing an upward trend in daily coronavirus cases and that they needed to act qucikly to keep the situation in control. 

Assam and Kerala, which went to polls recently, were among the dozen-odd states that are showing a rise in daily cases, with the country curently in the grip of a deadly second wave, recording over 4 lakh new daily infections.