It’s technically possible to catch COVID-19 from the dead.
April 17, 2020, 9: 39 AM
6 min read
Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet vitae succurrere, is an expression typically inscribed on the walls of morgues and autopsy suites. Roughly equated from Latin it indicates, “This is the place where death rejoices in teaching the living.”.
Undoubtedly, scientists are learning new things about the unique coronavirus practically daily, the most current lesson coming from beyond the tomb.
Scientists in Thailand have reported the first known case of COVID-19 infection from a dead person. The deceased was a forensic doctor. Forensic pathologists, also referred to as medical examiners, examine dead bodies for a living, making it highly likely– and sadly– that this person ended up being contaminated with the virus that causes COVID-19 from a dead individual, the Thai researchers concluded.
As the so-called “last responders,” of the COVID-19 pandemic, forensic pathologists have a lower opportunity of entering into contact with a COVID-19- infected patient compared to very first responders, such as law enforcement officers and EMTs.
Due To The Fact That COVID-19 is primarily spread out through breathing droplets when individuals cough, sneeze or talk, it’s less likely to be handed down by a dead body– although now we understand transmission is technically possible.
The National Association of Medical Inspectors keeps in mind that the “risk of droplet transmission of COVID-19 after death is believed to be minimal,” however possible, given that forensic medicine personnel regularly been available in contact with remains and biological fluids.
Although it’s possible to contract COVID-19 from the dead, experts state that safety measures currently in location will secure medical examiners and health care personnel from harm. Member of the family should not touch the body of a liked one who dies in your home of thought COVID-19 infection.
The expert society notes “Medical Inspectors and Coroners recognize with handling bodies that have other viral diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis, diseases that likely posture more threat at autopsy than COVID-19 Funeral Homes routinely deal with bodies with recognized infections of differing kinds as well.”.
A lot of infectious agents do not make it through long in the human body after death, according to the World Health Company. Nevertheless, WHO likewise acknowledges that employees who regularly manage remains are at threat of contracting tuberculosis, blood-borne infections like Ebola, liver disease and HIV, and gastrointestinal infections like E. coli and typhoid fever.
Medical examiners can never ever be too sure which infections a remains might harbor, so they constantly take universal precautions, and deal with all body fluids as contagious. This means wearing protective matches, gloves, goggles, deal with guards, caps and masks.
” I approach all my cases with universal precautions so in that regard I feel secured to a certain level,” stated Melissa Guzzetta, a medical examiner based in New Jersey. “With COVID, since it is a novel pathogen that we do not fully understand, I think the uncertainty, no matter how small, leaves individuals with enough stress and anxiety that most of workplaces feel the risk of doing an autopsy surpasses the advantages” when it comes to analyzing the body of a person who passed away from COVID-19, she said.
Information concerning the precise number of COVID-19 infected corpses is difficult to come by considering that testing for COVID-19 in dead bodies is not routine. The Centers for Disease Control and Avoidance has specific recommendations for the collection and submission of post-mortem specimens from deceased persons with known or thought COVID-19
What to learn about coronavirus:
Angela N. Baldwin, MD, MPH is a pathology homeowner at Montefiore Health System in the Bronx and a factor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
