Abstract
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread worldwide with over 260 million people infected and more than 5 million deaths, numbers that are escalating on a daily basis. Frontline health workers and scientists diligently fight to alleviate life-threatening symptoms and control the spread of the disease. There is an urgent need for better triage of patients, especially in third world countries, in order to decrease the pressure induced on healthcare facilities. In the struggle to treat life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia, scientists have debated the clinical use of ionizing radiation (IR). The historical literature dating back to the 1940s contains many reports of successful treatment of pneumonia with IR. In this work, we critically review the literature for the use of IR for both diagnostic and treatment purposes. We identify details including the computed tomography (CT) scanning considerations, the radiobiological basis of IR anti-inflammatory effects, the supportive evidence for low dose radiation therapy (LDRT), and the risks of radiation-induced cancer and cardiac disease associated with LDRT. In this paper, we address concerns regarding the effective management of COVID-19 patients and potential avenues that could provide empirical evidence for the fight against the disease.
Highlights
The rapid spread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a pandemic, which has affected seriously almost all countries worldwide
Most patients with COVID-19 exhibit mild-to-moderate symptoms, but approximately 15% progress to a severe “pneumonic” state, and approximately 5% eventually develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which leads to pneumonia and even respiratory failure [3]
reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests might be the gold standard for detecting the virus; they have proven to be time-consuming in terms of obtaining the results and, in many cases, they present shortages, especially within countries with few resources [33,77,78]
Summary
The rapid spread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a pandemic, which has affected seriously almost all countries worldwide. COVID-19 is a big concern because it has high transmission rate, and significant mortality rate, something that seems to be changing rapidly though with the new Omicron variant, but at the same time the treatment options are limited. The mortality rate of COVID-19 is usually compared to that of the seasonal flu, as both can present severe respiratory symptoms. According to WHO estimates, 290,000 to 650,000 people die of flu-related causes every year worldwide, while over 5.5 million deaths from COVID-19 have been reported [1,2]. Most patients with COVID-19 exhibit mild-to-moderate symptoms, but approximately 15% progress to a severe “pneumonic” state, and approximately 5% eventually develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which leads to pneumonia and even respiratory failure [3]. For initial diagnosis of COVID-19, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
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