Cordasco Fabrizio, Scalise Carmen, Sacco Matteo Antonio, Bonetta Carlo Filippo, Zibetti Angelica, Cacciatore Giulia, Caputo Fiorella, Ricci Pietrantonio, Aquila Isabella
Institute of Legal Medicine, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Med Leg J. 2020 Jul;88(2):66-68. doi: 10.1177/0025817220930552. Epub 2020 Jun 7.
The Covid-19 pandemic is currently a major global public health problem. We know that the elderly and people with chronic diseases contract the infection more easily and they develop clinically more serious and often lethal forms. To date, the reasons for this have been generically attributed to old age and underlying diseases. Most Covid-19 deaths occurred in long-term care facilities because the residents are elderly people with chronic illness living in close contact. Therefore, facilities have become epidemic outbreaks. Forensic knowledge is very limited because an autopsy is rarely performed. Post-mortem investigations can help increase knowledge about Covid-19 and identify any undiagnosed pathologies in life. Therefore, forensic investigations play a role in protecting a frail population. Autopsies should be encouraged on elderly people who died of Covid-19.
新冠疫情目前是一个重大的全球公共卫生问题。我们知道，老年人和慢性病患者更容易感染这种病毒，而且他们临床上会发展出更严重且往往致命的症状。迄今为止，造成这种情况的原因一般归因于年老和基础疾病。大多数新冠死亡病例发生在长期护理机构，因为那里的居民是患有慢性病的老年人，生活空间紧密。因此，这些机构已成为疫情爆发点。法医方面的知识非常有限，因为很少进行尸检。死后调查有助于增加对新冠病毒的了解，并识别生前任何未被诊断出的病症。因此，法医调查在保护脆弱人群方面发挥着作用。应鼓励对死于新冠的老年人进行尸检。
