Dead bodies do not pose health risk in natural disasters
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《英国医生杂志》
Fears about the dangers that dead bodies pose to the survivors of natural disasters are mistaken?and may be compounding health problems in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the two Caribbean countries where recent flooding has caused hundreds of deaths.
揚eople are reacting to the misguided fear that bodies will spread disease,?says Dr Jean-Luc Poncelet, who directs the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief program me of the Pan American Health Organization. 揟his misconception is very common, and the same reaction has occurred in many other countries around the world.?/p>
His comments follow publication of a study that reviewed what dangers dead bodies pose to survivors of natural disasters.
Using the PubMed online databases of the US National Library of Medicine, Dr Oliver Morgan of the public and environmental health research unit at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine searched for relevant literature on the infection risks for public safety workers and funeral workers as well as for guidelines for the management of the dead and prevention of infection. A small but important literature was also reviewed regarding the disposal of the dead and the contamination of groundwater by cemeteries (Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica 2004;15:307).
Dr Morgan found that in natural disasters people usually die from trauma and are unlikely to have acute or 揺pidemic-causing?infections. This indicates that the risk that dead bodies pose for the public is extremely small.
However, people who are involved in close contact with the dead梥uch as military personnel, rescue workers, volunteers, and others梞ay be exposed to chronic infectious hazards, including hepatitis B and C viruses, HIV, enteric pathogens, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Suitable precautions for these people include training, use of body bags and disposable gloves, good hygiene practice, and vaccination for hepatitis B and tuberculosis.
But Dr Oliver found little evidence of microbiological contamination of groundwater from burial. Concern that dead bodies are infectious can be considered a 搉atural?reaction by persons wanting to protect themselves from disease. 揌owever, clear information about the risks is needed so that responsible local authorities ensure that the bodies of disaster victims are handled appropriately and with due respect,?Dr Oliver writes.
Historically, epidemics resulting in large numbers of deaths have only occurred for a few diseases, including plague, cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, anthrax, and smallpox. However, such infections are no more likely to be present in disaster victims than in the general population. In addition, although some of these diseases are highly contagious, they are unable to survive for long in the human body after death occurs. It is therefore unlikely that such epidemics will result from contact with a cadaver.
In an accompanying editorial in the journal (p 299), Claude de Ville de Goyet, an international disaster risk management consultant in Chevy Chase, Maryland, writes that 搕he problem is not anymore and perhaps has never been one of a lack of knowledge by epidemiologists and scientists.?
He concludes: 揟he issue is how those informed health professionals can and should stand up to the pressure of public opinion and protect the rights of the survivors when fears of the unknown are running rampant and officials seek an easy way to alleviate them,?he concludes.(New York Scott Gottlieb)
揚eople are reacting to the misguided fear that bodies will spread disease,?says Dr Jean-Luc Poncelet, who directs the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief program me of the Pan American Health Organization. 揟his misconception is very common, and the same reaction has occurred in many other countries around the world.?/p>
His comments follow publication of a study that reviewed what dangers dead bodies pose to survivors of natural disasters.
Using the PubMed online databases of the US National Library of Medicine, Dr Oliver Morgan of the public and environmental health research unit at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine searched for relevant literature on the infection risks for public safety workers and funeral workers as well as for guidelines for the management of the dead and prevention of infection. A small but important literature was also reviewed regarding the disposal of the dead and the contamination of groundwater by cemeteries (Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica 2004;15:307).
Dr Morgan found that in natural disasters people usually die from trauma and are unlikely to have acute or 揺pidemic-causing?infections. This indicates that the risk that dead bodies pose for the public is extremely small.
However, people who are involved in close contact with the dead梥uch as military personnel, rescue workers, volunteers, and others梞ay be exposed to chronic infectious hazards, including hepatitis B and C viruses, HIV, enteric pathogens, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Suitable precautions for these people include training, use of body bags and disposable gloves, good hygiene practice, and vaccination for hepatitis B and tuberculosis.
But Dr Oliver found little evidence of microbiological contamination of groundwater from burial. Concern that dead bodies are infectious can be considered a 搉atural?reaction by persons wanting to protect themselves from disease. 揌owever, clear information about the risks is needed so that responsible local authorities ensure that the bodies of disaster victims are handled appropriately and with due respect,?Dr Oliver writes.
Historically, epidemics resulting in large numbers of deaths have only occurred for a few diseases, including plague, cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, anthrax, and smallpox. However, such infections are no more likely to be present in disaster victims than in the general population. In addition, although some of these diseases are highly contagious, they are unable to survive for long in the human body after death occurs. It is therefore unlikely that such epidemics will result from contact with a cadaver.
In an accompanying editorial in the journal (p 299), Claude de Ville de Goyet, an international disaster risk management consultant in Chevy Chase, Maryland, writes that 搕he problem is not anymore and perhaps has never been one of a lack of knowledge by epidemiologists and scientists.?
He concludes: 揟he issue is how those informed health professionals can and should stand up to the pressure of public opinion and protect the rights of the survivors when fears of the unknown are running rampant and officials seek an easy way to alleviate them,?he concludes.(New York Scott Gottlieb)