Lessons We Can Learn from COVID-19 Autopsies

In this article for Scientific American, W. Wayt Gibbs and Steve Miraky interviewed  Dr. Sanjay Mukhopadhyay and Dr. Desiree Marshall about the autopsies they have conducted on COVID-19 positive cases. 

In the interview with Dr. Mukhopadhyay, we learn how COVID-19 can lead to death. We also discover how doctors can distinguish between deaths WITH COVID-19 and deaths DUE TO COVID-19.

According to Dr. Mukhopadhyay, the pattern of organ damage caused by COVID-19  is very similar to influenza and is identical to SARS, MERS, and H1N1. 

Meanwhile, in Dr. Marshall’s interview, she states that various doctors are concerned that COVID-19 can lead to other critical illnesses in other organs. Marshall, however, reiterates that as more autopsies are being done, there is growing evidence that severe cases of COVID-19 follow the same prognosis.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Sanjay Mukhopadhyay’s work ¹https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article/153/6/725/5818922 is the first English paper to have been published about the pathology and cause of death of those infected with COVID-19.

His work is important because he shows us that not everyone who is infected with the coronavirus dies because of it. Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s work also shows us why it is wrong for doctors to identify COVID-19 as the cause of death even without an autopsy, and worse, in some cases, even without confirmatory testing [see This Is How COVID-19 Death Rates In The Us Are Manipulated. Meanwhile, Russia follows a different process for reporting COVID-19 deaths, read Why Russia Has A Very Low COVID-19 Death Rate] 

In the Philippines, none of those who have died with COVID-19 has been autopsied, and hence, we know for certain that health workers also do not differentiate those who died FROM COVID-19 and those who died WITH COVID-19. This means that our own COVID-19 death rate is overestimated.

Resources

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  https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article/153/6/725/5818922