A new study revealed high amounts of contagious SARS-CoV-2 viruses in the bodies of patients who died of COVID-19.
In some cases, the viruses were still present 13 days after death.
The study showed that infectious virus was detected in six of eleven (55%) cases, 4 of 11 (36%) nasopharyngeal swabs, and 9 of 19 (47%) lung specimens.
This is the first study that showed that infectious viral particles are present in the bodies of deceased patients. Previous post-mortem exams only showed RNA.
The authors found that infectious viruses are highly likely when death occurs because of rapidly worsening COVID-19 symptoms or within a short period after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
If SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive corpses are found within a few days after death and kept in a cold environment, they should be handled with caution due to the likely presence of infectious viruses. This would probably also hold if the bodies were found outside during the cold winter.
In the two cases for which infectious virus was not detected, the corpses had been left at room temperature before discovery and were highly decomposed.
The findings of this study are helpful to healthcare workers to guide them on how to handle the bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients.
The study is still a preprint and the authors are from the University of Tokyo.
Reference:
Saitoh et al. High titers of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 corpses.