AIIMS doctors planning to study how long coronavirus can survive in dead bodies

AIIMS doctors are contemplating autopsy of a COVID-19 victim to study how long coronavirus can survive in a de body and if it can transmit infection, Delhi hospital's forensic chief said on Thursday. study will also help ascertain how virus affects organs, Dr Sudhir Gupta said. An informed consent will be obtained from legal heirs of deceased for it, he said ding that many more departments like pathology and microbiology would be involved in study. 

"It is going to be a first-of-its-kind exercise and thus has to be planned meticulously. It will help us understand how virus behaves in body and way it affects organs. Also, it will help us assess how long vel coronavirus can survive in a de body," Dr Gupta explained.

On Tuesday, apex health research body ICMR said COVID-19 is a respiratory infection and mainly spre through aerosols. As per available scientific literature till w, survival of virus grually decreases with time in a de body but re is specific time limit to declare body n-infective.  So, it is visable to opt precautions and n-invasive autopsy technique, it stated. n-invasive autopsy technique as described in ICMR guidelines should be used, if at all required, to prevent risk of spreing infection to mortuary staff, police personnel and contamination of mortuary surfaces.

"If autopsy surgeon feels that he will t be able to conclude cause of death or any or related issue without dissection, n he can proceed with minimal invasive/limited internal dissection.

"However, dissection has to be performed keeping in mind that conduction of autopsy is a high risk procedure which is potentially as hazardous as any or procedure performed on body of a COVID-19 patient," guidelines said.

Indian Council of Medical Research said limited studies have been conducted on postmortem samples of patients who died due to COVID-19. Most of pathological studies are in consensus with clinical features and clinical course of disease in general. But disease also gives pathological dams to organs like heart, liver, kidney, brain, blood vessels and or organs, it said.