tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Infect Dis
. 2020 Dec 16;27(1).
doi: 10.3201/eid2701.203112. Online ahead of print.
Postmortem Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in Nasopharyngeal Mucosa
Fabian Heinrich, Kira Mei?ner, Felicia Langenwalder, Klaus P?schel, Dominik N?rz, Armin Hoffmann, Marc L?tgehetmann, Martin Aepfelbacher, Eric Bibiza-Freiwald, Susanne Pfefferle, Axel Heinemann
Abstract
Analyses of infection chains have demonstrated that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is highly transmissive. However, data on postmortem stability and infectivity are lacking. Our finding of nasopharyngeal viral RNA stability in 79 corpses showed no time-dependent decrease. Maintained infectivity is supported by virus isolation up to 35 hours postmortem.
Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; COVID-19; RNA stability; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; infectivity; postmortem; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; zoonoses.
. 2020 Dec 16;27(1).
doi: 10.3201/eid2701.203112. Online ahead of print.
Postmortem Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in Nasopharyngeal Mucosa
Fabian Heinrich, Kira Mei?ner, Felicia Langenwalder, Klaus P?schel, Dominik N?rz, Armin Hoffmann, Marc L?tgehetmann, Martin Aepfelbacher, Eric Bibiza-Freiwald, Susanne Pfefferle, Axel Heinemann
- PMID: 33327991
- DOI: 10.3201/eid2701.203112
Abstract
Analyses of infection chains have demonstrated that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is highly transmissive. However, data on postmortem stability and infectivity are lacking. Our finding of nasopharyngeal viral RNA stability in 79 corpses showed no time-dependent decrease. Maintained infectivity is supported by virus isolation up to 35 hours postmortem.
Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; COVID-19; RNA stability; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; infectivity; postmortem; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; zoonoses.