The Underutilization of Forensic Microbiology: A Narrative Review

Abstract

One of the main reasons of death in India is infection. At many centers, determining the infectious cause of death during autopsy is not regularly done. Although it is still a neglected field, postmortem microbiology has the potential to be a crucial tool for identifying the reason and circumstances of unexpected death. In addition to its use in forensic autopsies and medicolegal investigations, this tool can help with the detection of novel pathogen presentations, estimation of drug resistance, identification of bioterrorism agents, and a better understanding of infectious diseases like toxic shock syndrome, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In India, there has not been much use of microbiology in postmortem, and there is a dearth of specific guidelines or recommendations by regulatory agencies.

Keywords

• forensic microbiology
• postmortem microbiology
• postmortem transmigration
• agonal spread
• COVID-19