The study succeeded in demonstrating the feasibility of detecting viral genomes in blood samples collected during routine autopsy from persons who died form drug-related causes. The samples were collected a median of 4 days after death and forwarded for examination without precautions to preserve nucleic acids. PCR was performed on all samples. A human gene was detected in all samples tested, indicating the presence of intact DNA. HBV DNA was detected and confirmed by sequencing in 20 percent of samples analyzed, which agreed with data from a previous study among living Danish drug users. The study concluded that ongoing HBV and HCV infections could be reliably detected postmortem by viral nucleic acid testing. HIV RNA detection was feasible but was probably less sensitive than anti-HIV serological analysis. In addition, the cost of the PCR testing was 10 times greater than that of serological testing. The advantage of PCR is that it detects ongoing viral infections at death and enables sequence analysis that can be used to investigate routes of transmission. The authors view nucleic acid testing as a useful supplement to postmortem serological testing; however, it cannot replace antibody testing in order to determine the prevalence of past infections or the proportion protected by HBV vaccine. 3 tables and 16 references