MATRICIDE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN UNUSUAL CASE OF FAMILY VIOLENCE

The need to limit the spread of the virus in the population has forced many countries to impose strict measures of social distancing and home isolation. These measures, although necessary, have caused unprecedented social disruption. One of the most worrying effects of this social crisis is the increase in episodes of family violence which can be extremely serious up to the killing of family members. Matricide is a fairly rare event worldwide. Many authors have over time attempted to figure out the origins of a pathological condition-but not limited to-underlying such crimes often executed through particularly brutal criminal acts against the victims. In this study we present a case of a 66-year-old woman who was killed with multiple stab wounds from a diving knife and then burned. It was determined that the victim was murdered by her 36-year-old son, unemployed for about a year and with a history of alcohol abuse, had a suspected diagnosis of bipolar disorder in treatment with antidepressant drugs. On the victim’s body there were 31 stab wounds, localized mostly to the skull, face and thorax. Some of the typical characteristics highlighted in the literature regarding individuals who commit matricide are actually found in this case. This correspondence underscores the need to recognize and, in some cases, prevent the possible occurrence of such an eventuality within a family.

The protection of health in prison during the covid-19 pandemic

Being detained in jail is an acknowledged risk factor for physical and psychiatric morbidity.The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the penitentiary system, already characterized by criticalities in terms of healthcare, including high infectious risk, has been considered a source of further danger within the prison and for the community.This problem has been raised by several observers, in the absence of a shared approach between states.The Italian Government enacted a series of measures aimed at penitentiary structures, to contain and manage health and safety risks. General precautions for infections prevention have been used, including frequent hands washing and environmental cleaning and disinfection procedures. Physical distancing in jail is extremely chal-lenging, and we deem that it was still impossible to apply it, despite the release of almost 8000 detainees, among those at greater health risk. Measures have been also ordered to limit external contacts with detainees, including a substantial or absolute sus-pension of visits from relatives, operators and lawyers, replaced by video meetings. Quarantine and isolation of suspect cases has also been ordered, including new prisoners. Despite unfavorable premises the analysis we did on available data indicates lower infection rate and lethality rate in prison than in general population. In this paper a synthetic framework of the sanitary problems in detention will be provided, then the data will be analyzed, providing possible interpretations potentially useful for the management of the pandemic at the community level. Infectious surveillance, compliance with sanitation standards, early treatment of suspected cases, lower mean age, efficacious isolation and quarantine strategies may explain the better outcomes in Italian penitentiary system, also in the impossibility to systematically apply physical distancing. © Pensa MultiMedia Editore – Rassegna Italiana di Criminologia-Anno 49° (XIV nuova serie) n. 4/2020.

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 Viral RNA in Nasopharyngeal Swabs after Death: An Observational Study

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.