Why can people who have things like HIV, anthrax etc not be viewed by loved ones when they die or be embalmed?

Yes, you can get it from a infected man or woman if they are dead

they can be viewed but the families usually choose not to. people with anthrax usually aren't viewed because they don't look like themselves because the diseases messes up your skin.

have you given consideration to the condition of the skin? would the relative not be distressed if their loved one no longer 'looked' like them - giving relatives a trumatic experience - same with RTA's x

I didn't know that maybe it has to do with the safety of the coroner.

because these people had communicable diseases which could be spread through emblaming and when their body fluids are exposed.

Is this in the UK? In the US, at least in the state where I live, it is against regulations for a funeral director to refuse to embalm a person who had HIV. They just assume that all people had it and take the necessary precautions in all cases. This must be some old law/rule that either has been taken out of practice or they are just too stupid to stop doing it? Its pretty outdated imo. I would find another source. I had a friend who died and had HIV, his family were allowed to view the body- I believe they even washed him before the funeral director picked him up- he was also embalmed and they had an open casket funeral. Again, this is in the US but I'd think in the UK they would have also changed at least some of this policy by now. It sounds like something that was done before people were fully aware of how HIV was transmitted? In the 80s they treated HIV patients like this, and this type of practice was followed but it really isn't done anymore. In terms of rabies and anthrax, I'm not sure if that would be medically necessary or not I don't know sorry. But with HIV, this is very outdated and discriminatory.

First, I'm not calling you stupid, or ignorant, or even wrong. I've just never heard of any of this... but my area of expertise isn't medicine, either. The only way to contract HIV is through an exchange of bodily fluids, most commonly through sex, though if someone receives an HIV-tainted blood transfusion, dirty needle, or anything like that, the virus can be transmitted. But in a hospital situation with a dying loved one, like I believe you're speak of, I can't imagine any of that happening, so that's very strange. Rabies is transmitted almost exclusively by an infected animal biting you and introducing the pathogen into your body that way. Obviously, again, this seems unlikely in a hospital. It also seems unlikely that anyone would die of rabies in the first place, since most of us get rabies vaccines when we're young, which prevents the infection ever happening. Also, if you are infected, there are treatments, similar to treating a snake bite. Anthrax is even stranger. It's really bad for your health if you do get infected -- but it isn't communicable between humans. We get it naturally by inhaling the pathogen off of the bodies or products (hides and such) of animals, especially captive livestock. Unnaturally, it's obviously an inhaled weapon. But... people can't give it to other people. So, hospital? Doesn't make sense. Anyway, I absolutely agree with you that being at the side of someone with those diseases when they die seems reasonable. Not being able to do that is very strange. As far as embalming goes, that's even stranger. All that embalming is (simplified) is replacing normal body fluids with embalming fluids that keep the body from decaying as rapidly as it normally would. I see no way that embalming a man or woman with any of those diseases would be harmful to anyone. So... again, this isn't a cut or anything, but maybe you should find another site and ask around with some professionals a little? Because none of that makes any sense.