Does the Bathing of Covid-19 Infected Patients After Death Require Precautions to Limit the Spread of Viral Infection?

SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL ÜNİVERSİTESİ TIP FAKÜLTESİ, 2. SAĞLIK HİZMETLERİ SEMPOZYUMU, 5 EYLÜL 2020 / CUMARTESİ

https://tip.sdu.edu.tr/tr/haber/sdutf-2-saglik-hizmetleri-sempozyumu-5-eylul-2020-30477h.html

12:30-13:30    Onbirinci Sözlü Sunum Oturumu

Erişim Linki: http://sdutip.adobeconnect.com/sozlu11/

Oturum Başkanları:

Doç. Dr. A. Meriç ÜNAL (abdmunal@yahoo.com)

Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Hilal YAKUT İPEKOĞLU (hilalyakut@sdu.edu.tr)

 Sözlü Sunumlar:

1.Mehmet Eren YÜKSEL

Does the Bathing of Covid-19 Infected Patients After Death Require Precautions to Limit the Spread of viral Infection?

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral infectious disease which has spread all over the world causing a pandemic. COVID-19 disease is extremely contagious, spreading mainly through respiratory tract secretions and air droplets. The progression of the disease which causes acute respiratory distress syndrome, mostly in elderly patients over 65, requires intensive care unit admission. Unfortunately, 97% of COVID-19 patients who were mechanically ventilated passed away (1).

In Muslim society, the corpse of the deceased is washed after death, before the funeral. The body is laid onto a large table in supine position, and the Imam washes the corpse throughly from head to toe with clean water, before placing  the deceased person into a white cotton cloth surrounding the whole body. However, if the deceased person is infected with Corona virus, the waste water from the bathing of the corpse mixes into the sewage system.

Discussion: City sewage systems in Turkey either end up in waste water treatment facilities or open sea. Thus, Corona virus may be carried along the pipeline through the city and pour into fresh water (2). Furthermore, Chamber of Environmental Engineers (UCTEA) in Istanbul published a report on the effect of COVID-19 on the management of waste water, in April 2020 (3,4). According to this report, fecal oral transmission of the Corona virus is possible, which explains diarrhea in the early phase of the COVID-19 infection (5). The viability of COVID-19 virus varies from several hours to several days (6). In addition, solid waste in the sewage system both produces a protective shell and forms a nidus for the virus. Moreover, some of the waste water after treatment may be used for watering of the public gardens, which may lead to the spread of the virus to both human beings and environment.

Conclusion: In the light of these information, we recommend Muslim community in the world to take precautions for the disposal of infected waste water used to bathe COVID-19 infected patients after death, in order to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 infection.

 Keywords: Bathing, COVID-19, waste water

 References 

1. Phua J, Weng L, Ling L, Egi M, Lim CM, Divatia JV, et al. Intensive care management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): challenges and recommendations. Lancet Respir Med 2020;8(5):506-17.

2. Gormley M, Aspray TJ, Kelly D. COVID-19: Mitigating transmission via wastewater plumbing systems. Lancet Glob Health 2020;8(5):e643.

3. UCTEA Chamber of environmental engineers. [cited 21 April 2020]. Available from: http://www.cmo.org.tr/english/index.php.       

4. Istanbul chamber of environmental engineers. The effect of Covid-19 on the management of water and waste water. [cited 21 April 2020]. Available from: http://www.cmo.org.tr/resimler/ekler/9e9b26cc1a4d919_ek.pdf?tipi=78&turu=H&sube=2.

5. Water, sanitation, hygiene, and waste management for the COVID-19 virus. [cited 21 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/water-sanitation-hygiene-and-waste-management-for-covid-19.

6. Gundy PM, Gerba CP, Pepper IL. Survival of coronaviruses in water and wastewater. Food Environ Virol 2009;1(1):10.