Detection of Respiratory Viruses in Deceased Persons, Spain, 2017

Navascués, Ana; Casado, Itziar; Pérez‐García, A.; Aguinaga, Aitziber; Martínez-Baz, Iván; Floristán, Yugo; Ezpeleta, Carmen; Castilla, Jesús

doi:10.3201/eid2407.180162

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…However, our results showed that several respiratory viruses other than SARS-CoV-2 were also commonly found. These other viruses may be more frequently found in other seasons without dominance of SARS-CoV-2 [ 18 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since only a small percentage of deceased people were usually tested for respiratory viruses before they died, the impact of respiratory viruses on mortality is not well known [ 1 , 18 ]. Furthermore, mortality statistics by cause of death largely underestimate the role of respiratory viruses in mortality [ 18 ]. While a unique source of information did not provide a complete view of the respiratory-virus-related mortality, a combination of two independent sources may provide a more complete view.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prevalence of Respiratory Viral Infections in Deceased Persons during the COVID-19 Pandemic Season 2021–2022: A Population-Based Observational Study

Trobajo-Sanmartín,

Navascués,

Fernández-Huerta

et al. 2024

Viruses

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Although the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 circulated intensely during the 2021–2022 season, many patients with severe acute respiratory disease tested negative for COVID-19. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of different respiratory viruses in deceased persons. The proportion of deceased persons with respiratory viral infections in the 2021–2022 season in Navarre, Spain, was estimated considering all deaths caused by confirmed COVID-19 according to the epidemiological surveillance and the results of multiplex PCR tests for respiratory viruses performed in a sample of deceased persons with a cause of death other than COVID-19. Of 3578 deaths, 324 (9.1%) were initially reported as caused by pre-mortem confirmed COVID-19. A sample of 242 persons who died by causes other than COVID-19 were tested post-mortem; 64 (26.4%) of them were positive for any respiratory virus: 11.2% for SARS-CoV-2, 5.8% for rhinovirus, 3.7% for human coronavirus, 2.5% for metapneumovirus, 1.7% for respiratory syncytial virus, 1.7% for parainfluenza, 1.2% for influenza, and less than 1% each for adenovirus and bocavirus. Combining both approaches, we estimated that 34.4% of all deceased persons during the study period had a respiratory viral infection and 19.2% had SARS-CoV-2. Only 33.3% (9/27) of SARS-CoV-2 and 5.0% (2/40) of other viruses detected post-mortem had previously been confirmed pre-mortem. In a period with very intense circulation of SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic, other respiratory viruses were also frequently present in deceased persons. Some SARS-CoV-2 infections and most other viral infections were not diagnosed pre-mortem. Several respiratory viruses may contribute to excess mortality in winter.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prevalence of Respiratory Viral Infections in Deceased Persons during the COVID-19 Pandemic Season 2021–2022: A Population-Based Observational Study

Trobajo-Sanmartín,

Navascués,

Fernández-Huerta

et al. 2024

Viruses

Self Cite

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Feasibility of post-mortem testing for detecting the presence of seasonal respiratory viruses in the community is demonstrated by Navascués et al (4). They identified respiratory viruses (including influenza virus A(H3N2), RSV (subgroups A and B), coronavirus (types 229E and OC43), and rhinovirus) in 47% of 57 deceased individuals in Navarre, Spain, despite only 7% being diagnosed prior to death (4). They conclude that reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) from nasopharyngeal swabs taken post-mortem provided a sufficiently sensitive method for detecting respiratory viruses in deceased individuals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Sensitivity and Specificity of Postmortem Upper Respiratory Tract Testing for SARS-CoV-2

Hall

Harris

Emmett

et al. 2021

The Journal of Infectious Diseases

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Background Post-mortem testing can improve our understanding of the impact of SARS-CoV-2 if it is sufficiently sensitive and specific. Methods We investigated the post-mortem sensitivity and specificity of reverse transcriptase PCR testing on upper respiratory swabs using a dataset of everyone who had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 before and after death in England between 1 st March-29 th October 2020. We analysed sensitivity in those who had a positive test before death by time to post-mortem test. We developed a multivariate model and conducted time-to-negativity survival analysis. For specificity we analysed those with a negative test in the week before death. Results Post-mortem testing within a week after death had a sensitivity of 96.8% if the person had tested positive within a week before death. There was no effect of age, sex, or specimen type on sensitivity, but individuals with COVID-19-related codes on their death certificate were 5.65 times more likely to test positive after death (95%CI 2.31,13.9). Specificity was 94.2%, increasing to 97.5% in individuals without COVID-19 on the death certificate. Conclusion Post-mortem testing has high sensitivity (96.8%) and specificity (94.2%) if performed within a week after death and could be a useful diagnostic tool.

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Respiratory viruses in medicolegal autopsies during the winter season 2021/2022: observations after reduction of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions

et al. 2023

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In the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, measures were taken to protect the population from infection. These were almost completely lifted in several countries in the spring of 2022. To obtain an overview of the spectrum of respiratory viruses encountered in autoptical routine case work, and their infectivity, all autopsy cases at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Frankfurt/M. with flu-like symptoms (among others) were examined for at least 16 different viruses via multiplex PCR and cell culture. Out of 24 cases, 10 were virus-positive in PCR: specifically, 8 cases with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 1 with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and 1 with SARS-CoV-2 and the human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43), as a double infection. The RSV infection and one of the SARS-CoV-2 infections were only detected due to the autopsy. Two SARS-CoV-2 cases (postmortem interval of 8 and 10 days, respectively) showed infectious virus in cell culture; the 6 other cases did not show infectious virus. In the RSV case, virus isolation by cell culture was unsuccessful (Ct value of 23.15 for PCR on cryoconserved lung tissue). HCoV-OC43 was measured as non-infectious in cell culture, with a Ct value of 29.57. The detection of RSV and HCoV-OC43 infections may shed light on the relevance of respiratory viruses other than SARS-CoV-2 in postmortem settings; however, further, more extensive studies are needed for a robust assessment of the hazard potential due to infectious postmortem fluids and tissues in medicolegal autopsy settings.

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Detection of Respiratory Viruses in Deceased Persons, Spain, 2017

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

Prevalence of Respiratory Viral Infections in Deceased Persons during the COVID-19 Pandemic Season 2021–2022: A Population-Based Observational Study

Prevalence of Respiratory Viral Infections in Deceased Persons during the COVID-19 Pandemic Season 2021–2022: A Population-Based Observational Study

On the Sensitivity and Specificity of Postmortem Upper Respiratory Tract Testing for SARS-CoV-2

Respiratory viruses in medicolegal autopsies during the winter season 2021/2022: observations after reduction of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions

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