Pattern Of Infections In Custodial Deaths – A Forensic Autopsy Study

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Background: In a country like India, the prisoner cells are not well structured. For instance prisons are known to be a high risk environment for infections like tuberculosis (TB), HIV, HCV, HBV etc. due to overcrowding, low levels of nutrition, poor infection control and lack of accessible healthcare services. This study is an effort to know about the pattern of infections in custodial death cases detected during post mortem examination. Aims and Objectives: To determine the common infections and to know the mortality caused by infections among prisoners in custody, people in police custody and mentally ill patients in mental health institute in Punjab.Methods:This cross sectional study of 100 cases of custodial deaths from 1st Jan 2019 to 4thMay 2021, was carried out in the Forensic Medicine department in collaboration with department of Microbiology, Govt. Medical College, Amritsar.Results:Klebsiella Pneumoniae (37.5%) is more common in age group of 10-30 years while Staphylococcus Aureus (35.9%) infection was more common in the age group of 31 to 50 years. Incidence of positive growth of infections was slightly more in female inmates (76.9%) as compared to the males (75.9%). Inmates from urban area background showed more growth of Staphylococcus Aureus (35.7%) than from rural area background(25%).Conclusions:Timely medical diagnosis and treatment of each prisoner with availability of good doctors are the important issues relating to the healthcare of the individuals in custody.