Abstract
Neisseria meningitides Can Survive in Corpses for At Least Eleven Days.
Highlights
Among the potential hazards of working in a mortuary and handling corpses, the risk of infectious disease acquisition is well-documented, and warrants attention
It is believed that pathogens do not survive for more than a few minutes on environmental surfaces; N. meningitidis has been found to survive for up to 72 h on glass and metal surfaces (Tzeng et al, 2014)
There is a lack of data regarding the duration of survival of N. meningitidis in corpses, even though people who handle cadavers are commonly considered to be at risk of infection (Burton, 2003)
Summary
The main biological risk in this environment is due to infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, blood-borne hepatitis, and agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, such as variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. All these pathogens remain alive and are infectious postmortem. Other pathogens present in cadavers, such as Neisseria meningitidis, are a potential source of infection during necropsy (Burton, 2003). A few hours later, the woman returned to the same hospital with a higher fever (40◦C) and persistent vomiting. She was admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine. Bacterial cultures of the blood samples detected the growth of group C N. meningitidis
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