ABSTRACT
La enfermedad por el nuevo coronavirus (COVID-19), surgida a fínales de 2019 en la ciudad china de Wuhan, fue declarada como pandemia por la Organización Mundial de la Salud el 11 de marzo de 2020. En los países y regiones más afectadas, paralelamente al elevado número de pacientes y a la saturación de los servicios de salud, la cantidad inhabitual de fallecidos supone un importante esfuerzo de gestión para las autoridades. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo identificar los retos particulares de una adecuada gestión y coordinación de las instituciones implicadas y proponer recomendaciones de actuación para el manejo correcto y digno de los fallecidos y la protección del derecho de sus familiares a un trato respetuoso, a conocer la suerte y el paradero de sus seres queridos y a honrarlos de acuerdo con sus creencias. Se destaca el importante papel que los servicios medicolegales deben jugar para ello. (AU)
The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which emerged at the end of 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. In the most affected countries and regions, in parallel to the high number of patients and the consequent saturation of the health services, the unusually high number of deaths adds a very sensitive burden to authorities regarding the management of corpses. The purpose of this article is to identify the particular challenges of an appropriate management and coordination of the institutions involved and to propose recommendations for action for the proper and dignified management of the deceased and the protection of the rights of their families to a respectful treatment, to know the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones and to honor them according to their beliefs and customs. The important role that medical-legal services may play for this is highlighted. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Forensic Medicine/legislation & jurisprudence , Forensic Medicine/methods , Forensic Medicine/organization & administration , Family , Pandemics , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Health Services , Protective FactorsABSTRACT
The effective search for the missing and identification of persons, alive or dead, are core components in the prevention and in resolving the issue of Missing Persons. Despite the growing literature on this topic, there is still a lack of publications describing the Search as a process that includes different phases inherently composed of forensic investigative and identification principles for both living and deceased missing persons. This paper is the result of discussions between the Forensic Unit of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and members of its external Forensic Advisory Board. It aims to present the Search process as an overarching concept that includes the investigation and identification phases of the missing in any state (dead or alive), in any scenario (with or without bodies), with an integrated, multidisciplinary, and multiagency approach for implementation by all actors involved in the investigation and identification phases of missing persons.
ABSTRACT
Large-scale forensic investigations may follow episodes of mass violence and disasters where hundreds or thousands of people have died or are missing. A number of unique challenges for forensic science, different from domestic investigations, arise in these contexts. The setting and situation of these investigations regularly force forensic scientists into practices not regularly encountered while working in a standard criminal justice system. These practices can entail activities not specific to a practitioner's particular field or necessarily be scientific in nature, but are still needed in order for the investigation to move forward. These activities can include (1) establishing the number of and who exactly is missing after mass violence and disaster, (2) the creation of working protocols to deal with the scale of the loss of life that often overwhelm domestic practices and institutions, (3) negotiating the form that the investigation will take with various stakeholders, (4) addressing cultural beliefs of the affected society regarding the dead and missing, and (5) working within prescribed economic, political, and time constraints, among others. Forensic scientific responses to these challenges have proven to be flexible, innovative, and continually evolving.
Subject(s)
Body Remains , Disasters , Forensic Sciences/organization & administration , Mass Casualty Incidents , Attitude to Death/ethnology , Culture , Humans , Politics , Resource AllocationABSTRACT
Ancestry informative markers (AIMs) can be useful to infer ancestry proportions of the donors of forensic evidence. The probability of success typing degraded samples, such as human skeletal remains, is strongly influenced by the DNA fragment lengths that can be amplified and the presence of PCR inhibitors. Several AIM panels are available amongst the many forensic marker sets developed for genotyping degraded DNA. Using a 46 AIM Insertion Deletion (Indel) multiplex, we analyzed human skeletal remains of post mortem time ranging from 35 to 60 years from four different continents (Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America, East Asia and Europe) to ascertain the genetic ancestry components. Samples belonging to non-admixed individuals could be assigned to their corresponding continental group. For the remaining samples with admixed ancestry, it was possible to estimate the proportion of co-ancestry components from the four reference population groups. The 46 AIM Indel set was informative enough to efficiently estimate the proportion of ancestry even in samples yielding partial profiles, a frequent occurrence when analyzing inhibited and/or degraded DNA extracts.
