COVID-19 May Spread From Dead Bodies – First Case Reported
A medical examiner in Thailand got infected with the deadly coronavirus from a body of the person who died from COVID-19 in March.
This is the first time COVID-19 infection in medical personnel in a Forensic Medicine unit is reported, claims the study published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine on Sunday.
The authors of the study, Viroj Wiwanitkit of Hainan Medical University in China and Won Sriwijitalai of the RVT Medical Center in Bangkok said forensic professionals have the least chance of coming into contact with Covid-19 infected patients.
But they might come in contact with corpses and biological samples. A forensic medicine professional and a nurse were among the coronavirus patients in Thailand, as of March 10.
Since its not a routine practice to examine for COVID-19 in dead bodies in Thailand, there is no data on the exact number of COVID-19 contaminated corpses at present.
Thailand, the second country to be affected by COVID-19 has an accumulated number of 2,579 coronavirus cases as per the John Hopkins University data.
The authors added that forensic professionals need to wear protective devices like gloves, goggles, cap, mask and
protective suits.Pathology and forensic units need to be disinfected just like operation rooms.
Funeral and medical workers have become fearful of dead bodies of those died from COVID-19 as morgues across countries become overwhelmed.
Thailand’s Department of Medical Services had claimed previously on March 30 that dead people cannot carry SARS-CoV-2.
Except in cases of hemorrhagic fevers (Marburg, Ebola) and cholera, dead bodies are generally not infectious, explained, World Health Organization.
If handled improperly during an autopsy, only the lungs of patients with pandemic influenza can be infectious.
There is no evidence of people getting infected from dead bodies of those died from COVID-19.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.9 million people and killed 120,450 across the world as of Tuesday.
Personal protective equipment is a must for anyone coming into contact with a coronavirus positive body, dead or alive, to prevent exposure, said Summer Johnson McGee, the health policy expert of the University of New Haven.
Editor’s Note; COVID-19 could spread from dead bodies, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine reports
