Full Text (PDF)
Review Article

Post Mortem Examination of COVID-19 Deceased and Collection Preservation of Specimens

Vinod Dhingra, Rinkal Chaudhary, Sarthak Juglan

Author Information

Licence:

Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


Journal of Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology 8(1):p 35-39, January-June 2022. | DOI: https://doi.org/10.21088/jfct.2454.9363.8122.4

How Cite This Article:

Rinkal Chaudhary, Vinod Dhingra, Sarthak Juglan/Post Mortem Examination of COVID-19 Deceased and Collection Preservation of Specimens/J Forensic Chemistry Toxicol. 2022;8(1):35–39.

Timeline

Received : November 27, 2021         Accepted : January 05, 2022          Published : June 25, 2022

Abstract

Forensic autopsy plays a crucial role in death investigations. It deals with the identification of cause, manner and time since death of deceased for the judgement by criminal justice system. A thorough examination frequently leads to the efficacious of an autopsy. It initiates with the external examination of the body and further proceeds according to the history of deceased. The postmortem examination of a deceased who is expected to have a serious infectious disease that can be transmitted during autopsy called infectious autopsy. So, medical experts need to take more precautions while performing autopsies on infectious bodies. Disease could be spread in many numerous ways. Some diseases are commonly transmitted during autopsy i.e. human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), viral hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis infections. The risk is at increasing level for obtaining these types of postmortem infections especially in the cases where the death cause is unidentified. The use of standard precautions during an autopsy can minimize the risk of the transmission of infections. The present article highlights the risk of contagious diseases during autopsy and preservation of artefacts of deceased suffering of highly infectious disease COVID -19.


References

  • 1.   Corey TS, Hanzlick R, Howard J, Nelson C, Krous H (2007) A functional approach to sudden unexplained infant deaths. Am J Forensic Med Pathol 28(3): 271- 277.
  • 2.   DiMaio VJ, DiMaio D (2001) Forensic Pathology (2nd edn.), Florida, USA. In Dix J, Calaluce R, Ernst MF (Eds.), Guide to Forensic Pathology, Florida, USA.
  • 3.   Prahlow J (2010) Forensic Pathology for Police Death Investigators, Attorneys and Forensic Scientists. New Jersey, USA.
  • 4.   Saukko P, Knight B (2004) Knight's Forensic Pathology (3rd edn), London.
  • 5.   Nolte KB, Taylor DG, Richmond JY Biosafety considerations for autopsy, Am J Forensic Med Pathol, 2002, vol. 23 (pg. 107-22).
  • 6.   https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/ hcp/guidance-postmortem-specimens.html
  • 7.   World Health Organization. Interim Infection Prevention and Control Guidance for the care of Patients with suspected or confirmed Filovirus, Haemorrhagic Fever in Healthcare settings with focus on Ebola. August 2014. Available at: http:// www.who.int/csr/resources/ publications/ ebola/filovirus_infection_control/en.
  • 8.   Menezes, R. G., & Monteiro, F. N. (2019). Forensic Autopsy.
  • 9.   Books, H. S. E. (2003). Safe working and the prevention of infection in clinical laboratories and similar facilities.
  • 10.   Nolte KB, Taylor DG, Richmond JY. Biosafety considerations for autopsy, Am J Forensic Med Pathol, 2002, vol. 23 (pg.107-22).
  • 11.   Osborn M, Lucas S, Stewart R, et al. Autopsy practice relating to possible cases of COVID-19 (2019- nCov, novel coronavirus from China 2019/2020) secondary autopsy practice relating to possible cases of COVID-19 (2019- nCov, novel coronavirus from China 2019/2020), 2020. Available: https:// www. rcpath. org/ uploads/ assets/ d5e28baf- 5789- 4b0f- acecfe370eee6223/ fe8fa85a- f004- 4a0c- 81ee4b2b9cd12cbf/ Briefing- on- COVID- 19- autopsy- Feb- 2020. Pdf
  • 12.   Lucas S. Autopsies on people with high- risk infections. In: The hospital autopsy: a manual of fundamental autopsy practice. 3rd edition. London, UK: Hodder Arnold, 2010.
  • 13.   Xu Z, Shi L, Wang Y, et al. Pathological findings of COVID-19 associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The Lancet respiratory medicine.
  • 14.   Tian S, Hu W, Niu L, et al. Pulmonary pathology of early phase 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia in two patients with lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol 2020:S15560864(20)30132-5.

Data Sharing Statement

There are no additional data available. All raw data and code are available upon request.

Funding

This research received no funding.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed significantly to the work and approve its publication.

Ethics Declaration

This article does not involve any human or animal subjects, and therefore does not require ethics approval.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the patients, their families, and all those who have contributed to this study.

Conflicts of Interest

No conflicts of interest in this work.


About this article


Cite this article

Rinkal Chaudhary, Vinod Dhingra, Sarthak Juglan/Post Mortem Examination of COVID-19 Deceased and Collection Preservation of Specimens/J Forensic Chemistry Toxicol. 2022;8(1):35–39.


Licence:

Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


Received Accepted Published
November 27, 2021 January 05, 2022 June 25, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21088/jfct.2454.9363.8122.4

Keywords

Forensic examinationMedico legal expertsForensic AutopsyCovid-19

Article Level Metrics

Last Updated

Saturday 17 October 2026, 09:42:47 (IST)


2002

Accesses

7
180
00

Citations


NA
NA
NA

Download citation


Article Keywords


Keyword Highlighting

Highlight selected keywords in the article text.


Timeline


Received November 27, 2021
Accepted January 05, 2022
Published June 25, 2022

licence


Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


Access this article



Share