Chest X-rays "could provide a rapid, cost-effective diagnosis of COVID-19," a team of radiologists at Louisiana State University Health New Orleans found, Science Daily reports.
When cases were spiking in New Orleans back in March, the LSU team recognized an unusual pattern on chest X-rays — "the presence of patchy and/or confluent, band-like glass opacity or consolidation in a peripheral and mid-to-lower lung zone distribution" — and discovered that it was "highly suggestive" of a coronavirus infection. Indeed, the chest X-rays characteristic in appearance for COVID-19 had a predictive value of nearly 84 percent.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Magazine solutions - June 27, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - June 27, 2025
-
Magazine printables - June 27, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - June 27, 2025
-
Army commissions tech execs as officer recruitsIN THE SPOTLIGHT Some of the tech industry's most powerful players are answering the call of Uncle Sam
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study findsSpeed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
