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.

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.