Abstract
In the wake of disasters, the lack of information on how to handle and dispose of corpses leads the professionals involved in emergency operations to uncertainty about associated risks and safety precautions. The article seeks to establish the risks of the etiologic agents involved in Brazilian mortality due to infectious diseases and identify and discuss the main protection measures for professionals involved in handling of corpses in disaster situations. It involved a survey of deaths by infectious diseases in Brazil between 2005 and 2010, using data from the Mortality Information System. Of the 171,223 deaths analyzed, the pathogens leading to the greatest number of deaths were: HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Trypanosoma cruzi. 59% belonged to risk class 3 and 40.6% to risk class 2. Eight deaths were caused by risk class 4 pathogens, which represent high risk. The professionals involved in the handling of corpses may be exposed to chronic risks, such as viruses transmitted via blood, gastrointestinal infections and tuberculosis. These findings indicate the importance of investment in the preparation of measures to reduce the risk of infection associated with the handling of corpses.
Highlights
The devastating phenomena caused by disasters are part of history
The Emergency Events Databaseshows that between 1900-2010, the highest number of natural disasters occurred on the Asian continent
This study aims to analyze the etiologic agents involved in brazilian mortality by infectious diseases, in order to identify the risk and discuss the main protection measures necessary for the professionals involved in corpse handling in disasters
Summary
Disasters are the result of combination of exposure to a hazard, vulnerabilities and society’s inability to control or deal with consequences. These events have different amplitude in their impacts, the social commotion, the possibility of disease occurrence and the impacts on the affected population’s mental health are common to all disasters. The Emergency Events Databaseshows that between 1900-2010, the highest number of natural disasters occurred on the Asian continent. The highest numbers of deaths were caused by the 7.0 Richter-scale magnitude earthquake that occurred in Haiti (2010), which caused over 222,570 deaths and made 3,700,000 people homeless, and the earthquake followed by tsunami in Indonesia (2004) with 165,708 deaths and 532,898 homeless[2]
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