J Korean Med Sci.  2020 Aug;35(33):e302. 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e302.

[Secondary Publication] Standard Operating Procedure for Post-mortem Inspection in a Focus on Coronavirus Disease-19: the Korean Society for Legal Medicine

• Na JY
• Noh SJ
• Choi MS
• Park JP

• KMID: 2505597
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e302

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory syndrome caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. It resulted in a worldwide pandemic, and spread through community transmission in the Republic of Korea (ROK). In the ROK, SARS-CoV-2 is categorized as a first-degree infectious disease of the legal communicable disease present. The Korean Society for Legal Medicine (KSLM) is the sole official academic association of forensic professionals in the ROK. As such, this society has played an important role in forensic medicine and science in the ROK. Therefore, KSLM suggests a standard operating procedure for the postmortem inspection in a focus on COVID-19. This article includes the background of this suggested standard operation procedure, basic principles for postmortem inspections of individuals suggested of having an infectious disease, and specific procedures according to the probability level of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keyword

SARS-CoV-2; Postmortem Inspection; Standard Operating Procedure; Republic of Korea

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flowchart for the post-mortem inspection of the deceased with a suspected unnatural cause of death related to COVID-19.SOP = standard operating procedure, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019, PPE = personal protective equipment.

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