A Meeting with Death: How Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices Can Support the Surveillance of Respiratory Illnesses
Abstract
Respiratory viral surveillance in Georgia is typically acquired through hospitals and clinics volunteering to report specified health events. Prior to the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office (CCMEO) only tested decedents for common respiratory viruses in suspectedly ill cases. In 2021, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) offered a grant to examine ‘Unexplained Respiratory Deaths’ with the intent to expand COVID-19 and respiratory viral testing for Medical Examiner/Coroner cases. Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) and the CCMEO partnered for this grant opportunity.
As part of this grant, all accepted medical examiner cases were tested for 18 respiratory viruses by the Georgia Public Health Laboratory (GPHL). Tests included the CDC Influenza SARS-CoV-2 (Flu SC2) Multiplex test for COVID and Influenza A/B, the Illumina Respiratory Virus Oligos Panel V2 (RVP) for 15 common respiratory viruses from Jan. 2021 through Jul. 2022, and the Truemark Respiratory Panel 2.0 Taqman Array Cards System from Jul. 2022 through Dec. 2023. Additionally, an Epidemiologist was stationed at CCMEO to assist in sample collection, testing, results reporting, and anything else needed.
Over the course of 3 years, CCMEO has tested over 2200 decedents with 373 cases positive for COVID-19, 16 cases positive for Influenza, and 303 cases positive for a respiratory virus other than COVID and flu. It was also found that 126 cases were infected with more than one respiratory virus, with a maximum of five viruses infecting a single person.
We found that utilizing cases from CCMEO for surveillance can be effective in establishing a more accurate prevalence rate for pathogens circulating in the general population. The diagnostic results from GPHL allows Medical Examiners to make fully informed decisions when determining cause of death, while having an Epidemiologist on-site encourages timely reporting of health events.
Keywords
Respiratory Viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), Sentinel Surveillance, Medical Examiner/Coroner, Morgue
A Meeting with Death: How Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices Can Support the Surveillance of Respiratory Illnesses
Respiratory viral surveillance in Georgia is typically acquired through hospitals and clinics volunteering to report specified health events. Prior to the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office (CCMEO) only tested decedents for common respiratory viruses in suspectedly ill cases. In 2021, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) offered a grant to examine ‘Unexplained Respiratory Deaths’ with the intent to expand COVID-19 and respiratory viral testing for Medical Examiner/Coroner cases. Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) and the CCMEO partnered for this grant opportunity.
As part of this grant, all accepted medical examiner cases were tested for 18 respiratory viruses by the Georgia Public Health Laboratory (GPHL). Tests included the CDC Influenza SARS-CoV-2 (Flu SC2) Multiplex test for COVID and Influenza A/B, the Illumina Respiratory Virus Oligos Panel V2 (RVP) for 15 common respiratory viruses from Jan. 2021 through Jul. 2022, and the Truemark Respiratory Panel 2.0 Taqman Array Cards System from Jul. 2022 through Dec. 2023. Additionally, an Epidemiologist was stationed at CCMEO to assist in sample collection, testing, results reporting, and anything else needed.
Over the course of 3 years, CCMEO has tested over 2200 decedents with 373 cases positive for COVID-19, 16 cases positive for Influenza, and 303 cases positive for a respiratory virus other than COVID and flu. It was also found that 126 cases were infected with more than one respiratory virus, with a maximum of five viruses infecting a single person.
We found that utilizing cases from CCMEO for surveillance can be effective in establishing a more accurate prevalence rate for pathogens circulating in the general population. The diagnostic results from GPHL allows Medical Examiners to make fully informed decisions when determining cause of death, while having an Epidemiologist on-site encourages timely reporting of health events.
