Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Int J Infect Dis. 2023 Apr;129:103-109. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2023.01.046. Epub 2023 Feb 7.
The prolonged presence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in deceased patients with COVID-19 has been reported. However, infectious virus titers have not been determined. Such information is important for public health, death investigation, and handling corpses. The aim of this study was to assess the level of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in the corpses of patients with COVID-19.
We collected 11 nasopharyngeal swabs and 19 lung tissue specimens from 11 autopsy cases with COVID-19 in 2021. We then investigated the viral genomic copy number by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and infectious titers by cell culture and virus isolation.
Infectious virus was present in six of 11 (55%) cases, four of 11 (36%) nasopharyngeal swabs, and nine of 19 (47%) lung specimens. The virus titers ranged from 6.00E + 01 plaque-forming units/ml to 2.09E + 06 plaque-forming units/g. In all cases in which an infectious virus was found, the time from death to discovery was within 1 day and the longest postmortem interval was 13 days.
The corpses of patients with COVID-19 may have high titers of infectious virus after a long postmortem interval (up to 13 days). Therefore, appropriate infection control measures must be taken when handling corpses.
已报道 COVID-19 死亡患者体内存在传染性 SARS-CoV-2 的时间较长。然而，尚未确定传染性病毒滴度。此类信息对于公共卫生、死亡调查和尸体处理非常重要。本研究旨在评估 COVID-19 患者尸体中 SARS-CoV-2 的感染水平。
我们收集了 2021 年 11 例 COVID-19 尸检病例的 11 份鼻咽拭子和 19 份肺组织标本。然后通过实时逆转录-聚合酶链反应检测病毒基因组拷贝数，并通过细胞培养和病毒分离检测感染滴度。
在 11 例（55%）病例中有 6 例（47%）检测到传染性病毒，在 11 例鼻咽拭子中有 4 例（36%），在 19 例肺标本中有 9 例（47%）。病毒滴度范围为 6.00E+01 噬菌斑形成单位/ml 至 2.09E+06 噬菌斑形成单位/g。在所有发现传染性病毒的病例中，从死亡到发现的时间均在 1 天内，最长的死后间隔为 13 天。
COVID-19 患者的尸体在长时间的死后间隔（最长可达 13 天）后可能具有高滴度的传染性病毒。因此，在处理尸体时必须采取适当的感染控制措施。
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