{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T21:30:38Z","timestamp":1777498238044,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,10]],"date-time":"2021-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618012800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this study was to investigate the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in post-mortem swabs of subjects who died from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The presence of the virus was evaluated post-mortem from airways of 27 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients at three different time points (T1 2 h; T2 12 h; T3 24 h) by real-time PCR. Detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was performed by Maglumi 2019-nCoV IgM\/IgG chemiluminescence assay. SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was still detectable in 70.3% of cases within 2 h after death and in 66,6% of cases up to 24 h after death. Our data showed an increase of the viral load in 78,6% of positive individuals 24 h post-mortem (T3) in comparison to that evaluated 2 h after death (T1). Noteworthy, we detected a positive T3 post-mortem swab (24 h after death) from 4 subjects who were negative at T1 (2 h after death). The results of our study may have an important value in the management of deceased subjects not only with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, but also for unspecified causes and in the absence of clinical documentation or medical assistance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms9040800","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,12]],"date-time":"2021-04-12T05:52:00Z","timestamp":1618206720000},"page":"800","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 Viral RNA in Nasopharyngeal Swabs after Death: An Observational Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2619-9153","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Servadei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Anatomic Pathology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Silvestro","family":"Mauriello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Medicine, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0585-1309","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuel","family":"Scimeca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anatomic Pathology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Nuclear Medicine, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Via di Sant\u2019Alessandro, 8, 00131 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bartolo","family":"Caggiano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Medicine, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9943-9130","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Ciotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3711-2714","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lucia","family":"Anemona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anatomic Pathology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8441-3731","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuela","family":"Montanaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anatomic Pathology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Erica","family":"Giacobbi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anatomic Pathology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9434-2604","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Treglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Medicine, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sergio","family":"Bernardini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luigi Tonino","family":"Marsella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Medicine, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nicoletta","family":"Urbano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome \u201cTor Vergata\u201d, 00133 Rome, 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