Some COVID-19 patients were found to have pneumonia, or their CT scans showed they had “white lungs” recently. Some netizens believed that this may be related to the infection with the original viral strain or vaccination.
The so-called “white lungs” have nothing to do with the original strain found in Wuhan or the vaccination, and Omicron is still the dominant strain, Jiao Yahui, a senior official from the National Health Commission, said at a press briefing Tuesday.
According to Jiao, white lung is a colloquial description in the imaging findings of lungs, which does not mean that the lung tissues and the lungs have become white.
During a CT or X-ray examination, when the rays pass through the pulmonary alveoli, the imaging in that area should be black. But when there is inflammation and infection in the alveoli, which are filled with fluids or inflammatory cells, the rays cannot penetrate, and the imaging will be white.
It is called white lung when the white image area reaches 70% to 80%, and the patients suffer from hypoxemia or shortness of breath, Jiao said.
In clinical practice, especially in the current epidemic, patients who encounter this are mainly elderly patients with serious chronic diseases, but the proportion of such patients is still very low, according to Jiao.
While coughing is a common symptom of COVID-19, a lingering cough after recovery is an issue concerning many people.
According to health experts, the main reason for cough after COVID infection is that the virus damages to the airway mucosa, and the exposure of submucosal nerves leads to increased reactivity of smooth muscle, which is prone to airway contraction.
However, if patients experience a dry cough, it is recommended to take cough medicine and an expectorant for cough with phlegm.
If the color of phlegm changes from white to yellow after a few days of coughing, the phlegm increases in amount and becomes thick, which may be related bacterial infection, one can also take some antibiotics for three to five days.
A lingering cough after COVID is the body’s way of clearing the airway of stuff that shouldn’t be down there, health experts say. For some people, the cough may disappear in two or three days, while others may need three or five days. Most people will recover within 14 days.
It is noteworthy that cough and pneumonia are two different things. Cough is only a symptom of a disease and can be caused by a variety of reasons. Cough itself does not cause pneumonia.
Cough usually occurs when pathogens such as viruses and bacteria only affect the upper respiratory tract. When inflammation affects the lower respiratory tract, it may develop into pneumonia. Cough is also one of the most common clinical manifestations of pneumonia.
To relieve cough, it is conducive to drink more water, have more rest, drink honey water or soup boiled with condensed loquat extract or pear, avoid smoking and keep away from polluted environments.
If there is hemoptysis (blood in phlegm), the cough becomes worse at night or when moving the body, a large amount of yellow phlegm is coughed out, or the cough lasts for more than three weeks, it is recommended to go to the hospital.
Children must see a doctor in a timely manner if they have a fever that lasts for over three days without feeling better; the cough is aggravated, affecting daily life and sleep; and have rapid breathing, even difficulty in breathing, and obvious hoarseness in voice.
One should avoid lying flat when coughing seriously, because respiratory secretions easily accumulate in that position, which will aggravate the cough. People with history of cerebrovascular rupture, embolism or hemangioma should avoid coughing too hard.