MED-X Case Definition

To determine if it is a potentially infectious death, use this checklist as a guide.

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Checklist of Antemortem and Postmortem Signs and Symptoms (PDF)

1. Fever
2. Acute encephalopathy or new onset seizures
3. Acute flaccid paralysis or polyneuropathy
4. New-onset jaundice
5. Acute diarrhea
6. New rash or soft tissue lesion
7. Unexplained death
   • Death of an individual <50 years of age where:
     • the past medical history, circumstances, and scene investigation provide inadequate diagnostic insight to establish the cause of death, and
     • investigators have been unable to identify one of the signs/symptoms listed above in the absence of a specific etiology. 
   • This category includes infants with a SIDS-like presentation.

To determine if it is a potentially infectious death, use this checklist as a guide.

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Checklist of Pathologic Syndromes (PDF)

1. Neurologic
   • Encephalitis
   • Meningitis (including hemorrhagic)
2. Respiratory
   • Pharyngitis, epiglottitis or other upper airway infection
   • Bronchitis or bronchiolitis, acute
   • Pneumonia
   • Diffuse alveolar damage
   • Mediastinitis, hemorrhagic
3. Cardiac
   • Myocarditis
   • Endocarditis
4. Gastrointestinal
   • Acute hepatitis or fulminant hepatic necrosis
   • Colitis
5. Dermatologic
   • Diffuse rash
   • Soft tissue lesion
6. Multi-system
   • Lymphadenitis
   • Sepsis syndrome
7. None of the above pathologic syndromes