As part of a study, German researchers performed autopsies on victims of Covid-19. According to the results, the coronavirus would still be present in various organs up to five days after death. On the other hand, there would be no risk of contamination due to a viral load that is too low.
SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) is still present in the body after death . This is according to a study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine on May 6, 2020 and conducted by forensic pathologists and pathologists from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany).
The study in question consisted of performing autopsies on a dozen victims Covid-19, whose median age was 73 years old. To do this, the doctors performed a CT scan associated with a histological analysis (biopsy) of the tissues of different organs. They also assessed viral load using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique.
Study leaders have identified the cause of death, namely the presence of blood clots in the pulmonary blood circulation. So far nothing exceptional because we already knew that these blood clots were responsible for pulmonary embolisms. On the other hand, doctors found Covid-19 RNA in the lungs of each patient.
However, other organs were involved in nine patients:pharynx, liver, kidneys and heart. For four of them, Covid-19 RNA was also found in the brain as well as in the saphenous vein, a vein in the leg.
The German study proves the post-mortem viral presence of Covid-19. On the other hand, it evokes an absence of infectious risk. It must be said that the viral load is rather low, with concentrations below 4 × 104 copies/ml . Moreover, if the study in question only includes a small sample of patients, it is indeed the first to have carried out such a complete analysis.
Recall that in April 2020, the post-mortem viral presence of Covid-19 had already been mentioned in an open letter to be published in May. According to the document, a person who died of Covid-19 infected a medical examiner in Bangkok (Thailand). While the risk had not been confirmed , precautionary measures were quickly adopted during the treatment of the corpses and the samples taken.
During the same period, a doctor from the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches had already carried out autopsies. However, the expert had confirmed the presence of Covid-19 on the bodies. However, the person concerned had stated that the presence of the virus post-mortem does not necessarily mean that it is still active.
