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Doctor discusses difference in chest x-rays of vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID patients
Dr Ghassan Kamel, director of the medical intensive care unit at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, said the vast majority of its COVID-19 patients are not vaccinated – many of whom are young and healthy.
ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis hospital shared chest x-rays of patients with COVID-19, showing the difference between one who had been fully vaccinated and one who was not, in an effort to show how effective vaccines are to prevent serious illness amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
Dr Ghassan Kamel, director of the medical intensive care unit at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, said the vast majority of his COVID-19 patients are not vaccinated. In addition, many of the recent unvaccinated patients are “in their twenties, thirties and forties, and they usually do not have significant medical problems or a medical history.”
“We are seeing young, healthy people getting sick enough to be in intensive care,” Kamel said.
The doctor was unable to share the specific medical history of the two x-ray cases to protect patient information, but noted how more blurry the unvaccinated person’s x-ray is in white. This indicates “more advanced or significant lung disease” that could be the result of a viral infection, a bacterial infection, or even fluid on the lungs, Kamel said.
In a COVID-19 patient, as was the case in the x-ray, “this could be due to continued inflammation of the lungs due to the viral infection itself,” he added.
Treatment is different from patient to patient. But Kamel said this case may require oxygen, or the need for mechanical ventilation, to potentially be placed on life support.
In contrast, Kamel explained how the x-ray image of the vaccinated patient has more black area – which shows the lungs as they are filled with air. The patient is what is called a rare case of “breakthrough”, or when a fully vaccinated person becomes infected with the virus.
Chest x-rays provided by SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital show a COVID-19 patient who has been fully vaccinated (L), alongside a COVID-19 patient who has not been vaccinated (R). (Photo via CHU SSM Santé Saint Louis)
Health officials say a small number of these cases are expected. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1% of breakthrough cases have led to hospitalization or death.
In St. Louis, Kamel said his team had not seen a fully vaccinated COVID-19 patient requiring intensive care or advanced life-saving assistance – further fueling his urgent message for Americans who still have not received the vaccine to consider its effectiveness in preventing serious illness and death.
“We see a lot of sick patients who end up in intensive care, and they wish they had received the vaccine,” Kamel said, noting the ongoing spread of the highly contagious delta variant nationwide.
“I would like to urge young, healthy people, if you have the vaccine at your disposal, please get the vaccine,” he continued. “Hospitals are filling up again. We are seeing a lot of young patients on life support. We would like to prevent that, and we have one way to prevent it, and that is the vaccine.”
The doctor’s message comes as the United States faces an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations fueled by the delta variant. The country is now recording an average of more than 70,000 new cases per day, which is higher than the peak last summer when no vaccine was available, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Although vaccination rates in the United States have increased in recent weeks, millions of Americans have still refused to be vaccinated. Health officials continue to try to overcome skepticism about the vaccine, saying it is the ticket to ending the pandemic.
President Biden renews pressure for COVID-19 vaccine
President Joe Biden has urged Americans to get vaccinated as the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to cause an increase in cases.
The latest wave of COVID-19 has also prompted the CDC to recommend that fully vaccinated people resume wearing masks indoors in areas with substantial to high transmission rates. The agency cited new data from the delta variant showing that vaccinated people who contracted breakthrough infections carried roughly the same amount of coronavirus as those who did not receive the vaccines.
Still, the CDC notes that COVID-19 vaccines are still very effective against the delta variant in preventing serious illness and death.
President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House on Tuesday, renewed his pressure for Americans to be vaccinated and called the pandemic “largely preventable.”
“What is different about this increase from previous ones is that we have the tools to prevent this increase in the number of cases from closing our businesses, our schools and our society as we have seen what happened. last year, “Biden said.
“It’s a tragedy,” he continued. “People will die who don’t have to die. The data is absolutely clear. We have an unvaccinated pandemic.”
RELATED: Symptoms of the COVID-19 Delta variant: what we know and what to look for
This story was reported from Cincinnati.
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