Does death in Haiti increase the risk of disease?

On Haitian streets, people are struggling to find food, water, clothing, medicine and shelter. Meanwhile, death is not necessarily the end. Many victims of the terrifying earthquake are being buried hastily in mass graves.

Estimates of the death toll range from 50,000 to at least 200,000. Dead bodies are on the roadside, trapped in rubble or lying in a rough pit. Many people fear that these corpses can spread the disease.

The risk is negligible

The worry of diseases spread from corpses can stem from past pandemics, for example many people have died from cholera. However, earthquakes, floods, fires that cause casualties, drowning, burns . are not illnesses. Oliver Morgan's study at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) indicates that dead bodies from natural disasters do not pose a risk to public health.

'The risk of spreading the disease from the dead is completely negligible, unless people have some disease. Many people misunderstand the problem and waste resources, 'said Nicholas Young, Executive Director of the British Red Cross and a trustee of the fundraising organization called the Disaster Response Committee.

The dead body of a healthy person does not spread germs. People handling corpses face a low risk of infection and can be minimized by basic hygiene measures.

Covering the nose and mouth when walking across the dead body of the earthquake in Haiti.Photo: AP

'Many people believe that dead bodies must be buried and decomposed as quickly as possible. The corpse is often pushed into the pit without any identification. Therefore, people cannot statistically count the number of deaths as well as identify loved ones in distress, " Young said.

The charity called the Disaster Response Committee has developed a guide to managing corpses at disaster-hit areas based on World Health Organization documents and practical experience from the Asian tsunami of the year. 2004, Haiti floods in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in the US, earthquakes in Pakistan and India in recent years.

No need for detoxifying chemicals

The guide provides easy-to-understand and easy-to-remember information for ordinary people at the scene to handle the collection, identification, storage and burial of dead people easily.

In case of necessity, temporary burial can be done. However, it is not advisable to use caustics to 'disinfect' corpses because these substances are not effective but make it more difficult to identify dead people.

The guide states that people who live are more likely to spread the disease. In fact, people who are lucky to escape often lack food, lack of clothes, lack of hygienic living conditions so they are susceptible to diseases, including infectious diseases.

However, caution must be exercised when dealing with people who die from life, they can be TB patients, diarrhea, AIDS, hepatitis B or C. People who are exposed to corpses must take precautions. basically like wearing gloves, washing hands . because of tuberculosis, diarrhea, hepatitis B and hepatitis C can exist in people who die for 2 days, Dr. Egbert Sondorp, lecturer of School of Hygiene and Thermal Medicine London zone, said.

At death, HIV can live for 6 days. In addition, there is a risk of drinking contaminated water, especially the waste of the dead and the living.

Why do people rush to bury corpses, while the official guide says that there is no need to do so?

One of the reasons given is the smell, because the decomposing corpse smells unpleasant. 'Psychologically, most people avoid contact with the corpse. In addition, burial was quickly organized so that dogs and other animals could not eat corpses, " said Dr. Sondorp.

Customs and practices can also be a cause. Muslims and Jews prefer dead people to be buried within 24 hours.

While human instincts are quick to bury corpses because corpses will soon stink and look unsightly, but need appropriate treatment to ensure psychological as well as the rights of deceased relatives, Ute Hofmeister, forensic adviser of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said.

Victim relatives need to know what happened: how they died and where they were buried. In addition, the precise identification of the dead is of legal importance because the issue of inheritance and insurance can affect the whole family for many years.