Rush for CT scans as people shun Covid test in Punjab; doctors alarmed

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 1

People going in for repeated CT scans instead of RT-PCR test to detect Covid need to be watchful as repeatedly getting exposed to radiation could lead to cancer, health experts have warned.

Dr Bishav Mohan, senior cardiologist at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here, said he had a patient who instead on relying on RT-PCR test, underwent five CT scans on his own within a short span. “His initial scans didn’t show any infection in the lungs and he kept on roaming freely.

By the time he developed Covid symptoms, his condition had deteriorated. He is now on ventilator,” he said, calling it a dangerous trend.

A member of the Punjab Government Covid-19 task force, Dr Mohan said CT scan should only be done in cases where a person had tested positive and his condition was deteriorating. “The scan is recommended to rule out any clot or infection in the lungs. In rare cases it is advised for patients testing negative, but facing difficulty in breathing or their oxygen saturation dipping,” he said.

He said cases had come to light where Covid-positive people, including those with symptoms, were venturing out of their houses on the basis of CT scan report and acting as super-spreaders. “This must stop,” he cautioned.

Another expert, Dr Manoj Sobti, a former president of the Indian Medical Association’s Punjab chapter, warned that unregulated gatherings at diagnostic centres could prove to be super-spreading events.