1. High titers of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 corpses
- Author
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Hisako Saitoh, Yuko Sakai-Tagawa, Sayaka Nagasawa, Suguru Torimitsu, Kazumi Kubota, Yuichiro Hirata, Kiyoko Iwatsuki-Horimoto, Ayumi Motomura, Namiko Ishii, Keisuke Okaba, Kie Horioka, Hiroyuki Abe, Masako Ikemura, Hirofumi Rokutan, Munetoshi Hinata, Akiko Iwasaki, Yoichi Yasunaga, Makoto Nakajima, Rutsuko Yamaguchi, Shigeki Tsuneya, Kei Kira, Susumu Kobayashi, Go Inokuchi, Fumiko Chiba, Yumi Hoshioka, Aika Mori, Isao Yamamoto, Kimiko Nakagawa, Harutaka Katano, Shun Iida, Tadaki Suzuki, Shinji Akitomi, Iwao Hasegawa, Tetsuo Ushiku, Daisuke Yajima, Hirotaro Iwase, Yohsuke Makino, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka
- Abstract
BackgroundThe prolonged presence of infectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in deceased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients has been reported. However, infectious virus titers have not been determined. Such information is important for public health, death investigation, and handling corpses.AimThe aim of this study was to assess the level of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in COVID-19 corpses.MethodsWe 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.ResultsInfectious virus was present in 6 of 11 (55%) cases, 4 of 11 (36%) nasopharyngeal swabs, and 9 of 19 (47%) lung specimens. The virus titers ranged from 6.00E + 01 plaque-forming units (PFU)/mL to 2.09E + 06 PFU/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.ConclusionCOVID-19 corpses 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.
- Published
- 2022