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Health risks from dead bodies
 
 
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After disaster
Disaster

File:Post-and-Grant-Avenue.-Look.jpgA disaster is the tragedy of a natural hazard or man-made hazard that negatively affects society or environment ....
s with extensive loss of life due to trauma
Physical trauma

Physical trauma refers to a body injury. A trauma patient is someone who has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury with the potential for secondary complications such as Shock , respiratory failure and death....
—earthquakes, storms, human conflict, etc.— many resources are often expended on burying the dead
The Dead

The Dead may refer to:* The dead, those who have died* The Dead , by James Joyce* The Dead , adapted from Joyce's story* James Joyce's The Dead, Broadway musical...
 quickly, and applying disinfectant to bodies, to prevent disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
. This is an inappropriate use of scarce resources and manpower
Manpower

Manpower may refer to:...
. The health risks from dead bodies in such cases are minimal.

rding to health professionals, the fear of spread of disease by bodies killed by trauma rather than disease is not justified.






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Encyclopedia


After disaster
Disaster

File:Post-and-Grant-Avenue.-Look.jpgA disaster is the tragedy of a natural hazard or man-made hazard that negatively affects society or environment ....
s with extensive loss of life due to trauma
Physical trauma

Physical trauma refers to a body injury. A trauma patient is someone who has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury with the potential for secondary complications such as Shock , respiratory failure and death....
—earthquakes, storms, human conflict, etc.— many resources are often expended on burying the dead
The Dead

The Dead may refer to:* The dead, those who have died* The Dead , by James Joyce* The Dead , adapted from Joyce's story* James Joyce's The Dead, Broadway musical...
 quickly, and applying disinfectant to bodies, to prevent disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
. This is an inappropriate use of scarce resources and manpower
Manpower

Manpower may refer to:...
. The health risks from dead bodies in such cases are minimal.

False risks

According to health professionals, the fear of spread of disease by bodies killed by trauma rather than disease is not justified. Among others, Steven Rottman, director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters
UCLA School of Public Health

The UCLA School of Public Health is the graduate school of public health affiliated with University of California, Los Angeles, and is located within the Center for Health Sciences building on the UCLA campus....
, said that no scientific evidence exists that bodies of disaster victims increase the risk of epidemics, adding that cadaver
Cadaver

A cadaver is a dead human body.Cadaver may also refer to:* Cadaver tomb, tomb featuring an effigy in the form of a decomposing body* Cadaver , a video game...
s posed less risk of contagion
Contagion

'Contagion' may refer to:In 'medicine':* Infectious diseaseIn 'literature':* ...
 than living people. In disasters involving trauma where there is competition for resources, they should be going into establishment of water supply, sanitation
Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease....
, shelter, warmth and hygienic food for the survivors, not digging mass graves. Spraying is a waste of disinfectant and manpower. Indiscriminate burial of corpses demoralises survivors and the lack of death certificates can cause practical problems to survivors .

Countervailing considerations include religious and cultural practices, the stench, and the effect on morale. This advice does not apply in the case of a health disaster such as an epidemic
Epidemic

In epidemiology, an infection that is epidemic appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is "expected," based on recent experience ....
 where the victims are affected by diseases which can be communicated by dead bodies.

Roots of incorrect notion

The incorrect notion that all dead bodies inherently cause disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
s is probably a combination of:
  1. The incorrect miasma theory of disease
    Miasma theory of disease

    The miasmatic theory of disease held that diseases such as cholera or the Black Death were caused by a miasma , a noxious form of "bad air"....
    , which holds that diseases are spread by foul air
    Joseph Bazalgette

    Sir Joseph William Bazalgette was one of the great England civil engineers of the Victorian era. As the chief engineer of London Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of a London sewerage system, which helped relieve the city from cholera epidemics, while beginning the clean-up of the Thames, which had reached a...
    —in this case fouled by the stench of decomposing corpses.
  2. Confusion between normal decay processes and signs of disease and the idea that microorganisms responsible for decomposition are dangerous to living people.
  3. After a major disaster disease among survivors living in harsh conditions with poor sanitation is common.
  4. Noting that corpses of those who died from certain contagious
    Contagious

    Contagious may refer to:*Contagious disease*Contagious , a song by the Isley Brothers*Contagious, a 2007 in music song from Avril Lavigne's album "The Best Damn Thing"...
     diseases     (for example, in epidemics) do, indeed, spread disease, such as the case with smallpox
    Smallpox

    Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple"....
     and the 1918 flu.


Real risks

Contamination of water supplies by unburied bodies, burial sites, or temporary storage sites may result in the spread of gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis

Gastroenteritis is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, involving both the stomach and the small intestine and resulting in acute diarrhea....
 from normal intestinal contents. According to an article on the Infectious Disease Risks From Dead Bodies Following Natural Disasters by the Pan American Health Organization
Pan American Health Organization

The Pan American Health Organization is an international public health agency with over 100 years of experience working to improve health and living standards of the people of the Americas....
:

To those in close contact with the dead, such as rescue workers, there is a health risk from chronic infectious diseases which spread by direct contact, for example: hepatitis B, hepatitis C
Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a Blood-borne disease infectious disease that is caused by the hepatitis C virus , affecting the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver ....
, HIV
HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections....
, enteric
Enteric

Enteric can refer to:* A general term for the intestines** Microorganisms that inhabit the intestines are commonly known as enteric bacteria* Enteric nervous system...
 (intestinal) pathogen
Pathogen

A pathogen , infectious agent, or germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its Host .There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring...
s and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
.

The substances cadaverine
Cadaverine

Cadaverine is a foul-smelling molecule produced by protein hydrolysis during putrefaction of animal tissue. Cadaverine is a toxic diamine with the formula NH25NH2, which is similar to putrescine....
 and putrescine
Putrescine

Putrescine is an organic chemical compound NitrogenHydrogen24NH2 . It is related to cadaverine; both are produced by the breakdown of amino acids in living and dead organisms and both are toxic in large doses....
 are produced during the decomposition
Decomposition

Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
 of animal bodies, and give off a foul odor. They are toxic if massive doses are ingested (2g per kg of body weight in rats for putrescine, a larger dose for cadaverine), causing adverse effects. If these figures are assumed to apply to humans, a 60 kg (132lb) person would be significantly affected by 120g (4oz) of pure putrescine, and would show no effects at all for a tenth of that dose. By way of comparison the similar substance spermine
Spermine

Spermine is a polyamine involved in cellular metabolism found in all Eukaryote. Formed from spermidine, it is found in a wide variety of organisms and tissues and is an essential growth factor in some Bacterium....
, found in semen
Semen

Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that usually contains spermatozoon....
, is over 3 times as toxic.

See also

  • Cadaverine
    Cadaverine

    Cadaverine is a foul-smelling molecule produced by protein hydrolysis during putrefaction of animal tissue. Cadaverine is a toxic diamine with the formula NH25NH2, which is similar to putrescine....
  • Decomposition
    Decomposition

    Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
  • Putrefaction
    Putrefaction

    Putrefaction is the decomposition of animal proteins, especially by Anaerobic organism, described as putrefying bacteria. Decomposition is a more general process....
  • Putrescine
    Putrescine

    Putrescine is an organic chemical compound NitrogenHydrogen24NH2 . It is related to cadaverine; both are produced by the breakdown of amino acids in living and dead organisms and both are toxic in large doses....


External links

  • — WHO: Corpses pose little threat
  • — Are Dead Bodies Dangerous?
  • Mass burials do more harm than good—experts
  • Talking About Dead Bodies: Risk Communication After a Catastrophe