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Review and Prospects of Pathogen Detection Related to Autopsy of Coronavirus Infectious Diseases
1Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Insights
This review examines pathogen detection in autopsies for coronavirus infections like SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. It discusses current methods to aid future COVID-19 autopsy studies.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Pathology
- Public Health
Background:
- Coronaviruses have caused severe pandemics, including SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.
- The high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 complicates widespread autopsies for COVID-19 cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review pathogen detection methods used in autopsies for previous coronavirus infections.
- To introduce current novel coronavirus detection techniques in clinical practice.
- To provide a reference for pathogen detection and study in COVID-19 autopsies.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of pathogen detection in coronavirus infection autopsies.
- Overview of current clinical methods for novel coronavirus detection.
Main Results:
- Previous studies on SARS and MERS autopsies provide a foundation for COVID-19 research.
- Current clinical detection methods offer potential adaptations for post-mortem analysis.
Conclusions:
- Effective pathogen detection in COVID-19 autopsies is crucial for understanding the disease.
- This review synthesizes existing knowledge and methods to guide future research efforts.
Abstract:
In the past, coronavirus caused two serious human-to-human pandemics in the world, including severe acute respiratory syndrome （SARS） and Middle East respiratory syndrome （MERS）. In late 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 （COVID-19） caused another major global public health event. Due to the strong infectivity of novel coronavirus, it is difficult to carry out the autopsy of related death cases widely. This paper reviews the previous status of the pathogen detection related to the autopsy of coronavirus infection diseases, and introduces the ongoing detection methods of novel coronavirus in clinical practice, in order to provide reference for the pathogen detection and study related to autopsy of COVID-19.
