Postmortem Swabs in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pandemic: Report on 12 Complete Clinical Autopsy Cases

Abstract

A thorough knowledge of the eventual persistence of pathogens in deaths related to infectious diseases is fundamental for the safety of the operators during the autopsy practice, especially when referring to emergent pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2. Our study highlights the importance in performing multiple swabs in the postmortem examination, because SARS-CoV-2 swab positivity can be limited to only a single swab.