Mutala Timothy Musila, Onyambu Callen Kwamboka, Aywak Angeline Anyona
Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiation Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Pan Afr Med J. 2020 Sep 7;37:28. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2020.37.28.23081. eCollection 2020.
COVID-19 is a rapidly growing pandemic that has grown from a few cases in Wuhan, China to millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide within a few months. Sub-Saharan Africa is not spared. Radiology has a key role to play in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 as literature from Wuhan and Italy demonstrates. We therefore share some critical knowledge and practice areas for radiological suspicion and diagnosis. In addition, emphasis on how guarding against healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) by applying "red" and "green" principle is addressed. Given that pandemics such as COVID-19 can worsen the strain on the scantily available radiological resources in this region, we share some practical points that can be applied to manage these precious resources also needed for other essential services. We have noted that radiology does not feature in many main COVID-19 guidelines, regionally and internationally. This paper therefore suggests areas of collaboration for radiology with other clinical and management teams. We note from our local experience that radiology can play a role in COVID-19 surveillance.
新冠病毒肺炎（COVID-19）是一场迅速蔓延的大流行病，在短短几个月内，已从中国武汉的几例病例发展成为全球数百万例感染和数十万人死亡的疫情。撒哈拉以南非洲地区也未能幸免。正如来自武汉和意大利的文献所表明的，放射学在COVID-19的诊断和管理中起着关键作用。因此，我们分享一些关于放射学怀疑和诊断的关键知识及实践领域。此外，还强调了如何通过应用“红色”和“绿色”原则来预防医疗保健相关感染（HAIs）。鉴于像COVID-19这样的大流行病会加剧该地区本就稀缺的放射学资源的紧张状况，我们分享一些可用于管理这些其他基本服务也需要的宝贵资源的实用要点。我们注意到，在地区和国际层面，放射学并未在许多主要的COVID-19指南中得到体现。因此，本文提出了放射学与其他临床和管理团队的合作领域。我们从当地经验中注意到，放射学可在COVID-19监测中发挥作用。
