Association of Chest CT Severity Scores and Vaccination Status in COVID-19 Infection: A Cross-sectional Study
Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a pandemic with substantial morbidity and mortality. While global efforts towards mitigating the infection are focused on the vaccination of population, studies are warranted to prove the efficacy of vaccine in prevention of infect...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/16027/51686_CE[Ra1]_F[SH]_PF1(SC_SS)_PFA(SC_KM)_PN(KM).pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged
as a pandemic with substantial morbidity and mortality. While
global efforts towards mitigating the infection are focused on the
vaccination of population, studies are warranted to prove the
efficacy of vaccine in prevention of infection or reducing the severity
of infection in affected patients. The 25-point High Resolution
Computed Tomography (HRCT) severity score has proved to be
an effective tool in estimating the severity of lung infection and
correlates with laboratory parameters and disease outcome. The
HRCT scores hence provide an objective evidence to prove the
efficacy of vaccines in vaccinated individuals by assessing the
extent of lung involvement.
Aim: To compare the chest CT severity score in vaccinated and
unvaccinated COVID-19 infected patients.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted
in the Department of Radiology, at Sri Jayadeva Institute of
Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka,
India. The data of HRCT scores and vaccination status was
collected during the month of April 2021 from patients who
were suspected to have COVID-19 infection and underwent a
chest HRCT scan. The severity of lung infection in vaccinated
and unvaccinated individuals were compared based on the
HRCT scores and the association between these variables were
analysed. The association between the respective variables were
studied using Fisher’s-exact and Kruskal-Wallis tests.
Results: The study involved a total of 178 subjects (males were
98), where 127 (71.3%) were unvaccinated and 51 (28.6%) were
vaccinated with one or both doses {Covaxin (Bharat Biotech)
vaccine or Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca) vaccine approved by
Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA)}. The frequency of disease
was least in 14 (7.9%) among fully vaccinated subjects. Severe
COVID-19 associated pneumonia with severity score of 18 or
more was seen in 7% of unvaccinated individuals, while none
of the partial/fully vaccinated individuals had severe disease.
The median CT severity score was significantly higher among
unvaccinated patients compared to partially and fully vaccinated
patients (p-value=0.001). Fully vaccinated patients had almost
low CT severity score indicating mild form of disease.
Conclusion: To the best of authors knowledge, this study was
the first to describe the chest CT severity scores of vaccinated
individuals in comparison with the unvaccinated COVID-19
infected patients. The disease severity was significantly higher
among unvaccinated patients compared to partially or fully
vaccinated patients. The present study has provided substantial
evidence of vaccine efficacy in reducing the disease severity in
COVID-19 infected patients. |
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| ISSN: | 2249-782X 0973-709X |