EC Microbiology

Research Article Volume 22 Issue 5 - 2028

HRCT: A Tool to Curtail the Spread Rate of SARS-CoV-2 for Early and Authentic Triaging of COVID-19 Patients

Ayma Aftab1, Samia Afzal1*, Muhammad Idrees1, Aftab Ahmad2, Tabasum Naz2, Vivek Sharma3 and Liaqat Ali2*

1Division of Molecular Virology and Infectious Diseases, Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), University of the Punjab, Lahore,
Pakistan
2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
3Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

*Corresponding Author: Samia Afzal, Division of Molecular Virology and Infectious Diseases, Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan and Liaqat Ali, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Received: March 16, 2026; Published: May 01, 2026



To explain the characteristics of chest high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) among COVID-19 suspected cases. To reveal the consistency of HRCT chest findings with real-time polymerase chain reaction diagnosis in order to analyze the sensitivity and reliability of these two methods for the detection of omicron. This will help in early triaging of positive patients from negative patients and will eventually reduce the spread rates. A comparative study conducted on Pakistani COVID-19 suspected patients during June, 2021 to December, 2021. 2494 suspected COVID-19 patients were included in the study who were tested using both RT-PCR and chest HRCT. Based on HRCT analysis, patients were categorized as “Confirmed COVID positive”, “Likely COVID positive” or “COVID negative” by radiologists. RT-PCR was selected as standard of reference to evaluate chest HRCT sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). 1114 patients were RT-PCR positive and 1380 were RT-PCR negative. 1164 (46.6%) were included in “Confirmed COVID positive”, 1277 (51.2%) in “COVID negative” and 53 (2.1%) in “Likely COVID positive” on the basis of HRCT. 87.70% sensitivity, 97.46% specificity, 96.54% PPV and 90.76% NPV were obtained by comparing “Confirmed COVID positive” with RT-PCR. Depending upon the obtained sensitivity, CT scan can be used as a reliable time efficient tool to diagnose COVID-19 suspected patients instead of only relying upon RT-PCR that is time intensive along with certain limitations. Moreover, some RT-PCR negative patients also showed remarkable changes in lungs physiology that confirms the coronavirus disease.

Keywords: False Negative; COVID-19; Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR); High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT)

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Samia Afzal and Liaqat Ali., et al. “HRCT: A Tool to Curtail the Spread Rate of SARS-CoV-2 for Early and Authentic Triaging of COVID-19 Patients”. EC Microbiology 22.5 (2026): 01-07.

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