ReviewThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2020
COVID-19 human challenge studies: ethical issues.
Review in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from pre and asymptomatic infected individuals: a systematic review.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Key criteria for the ethical acceptability of COVID-19 human challenge studies: Report of a WHO Working Group.Vaccine · 2021Guideline
- Ethical Frameworks for Conducting Social Challenge Studies.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2026Review
- Motivations and experiences in controlled human infection trials vs. phase I clinical trials: a survey study.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Exploring antibiotic knowledge and practices in a sample of damascus residents: a foundation for informed interventions and public health strategies.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Decitabine Increases the Transcription ofMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Gender and equity considerations in AMR research: a systematic scoping review.Monash bioethics review · 2024Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on RNA Therapeutics: A Surge in Lipid Nanoparticles and Alternative Delivery Systems.Pharmaceutics · 2024Review
- A scoping review of ethics review processes during public health emergencies in Africa.BMC medical ethics · 2024Article
- The Case for Human Challenge Trials in COVID-19.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2024Article
- Ethical acceptability of human challenge trials: Consultation with the US public and with research personnel.PloS one · 2024Article
- Controlled Human Infection Challenge Studies with RSV.Current topics in microbiology and immunology · 2024Review
- Revisiting the personal protective equipment components of transmission-based precautions for the prevention of COVID-19 and other respiratory virus infections in healthcare.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2023Article
- Quantifying the impact of individual and collective compliance with infection control measures for ethical public health policy.Science advances · 2023Article
- Mouse models in COVID-19 research: analyzing the adaptive immune response.Medical microbiology and immunology · 2023Review
- Pollution free UV-C radiation to mitigate COVID-19 transmission.Gondwana research : international geoscience journal · 2023Article
- Fast Methods for Drug Approval: Research Perspectives for Pandemic Preparedness.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Clinical and laboratory considerations: determining an antibody-based composite correlate of risk for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 or severe COVID-19.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Risk, benefit, and social value in Covid-19 human challenge studies: pandemic decision making in historical context.Monash bioethics review · 2022Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
COVID-19 poses an extraordinary threat to global public health and an effective vaccine could provide a key means of overcoming this crisis. Human challenge studies involve the intentional infection of research participants and can accelerate or improve vaccine development by rapidly providing estimates of vaccine safety and efficacy. Human challenge studies of low virulence coronaviruses have been done in the past and human challenge studies with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 have been proposed. These studies of coronaviruses could provide considerable benefits to public health; for instance, by improving and accelerating vaccine development. However, human challenge studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in particular might be controversial, in part, for ethical reasons. The ethical issues raised by such studies thus warrant early consideration involving, for example, broad consultation with the community. This Personal View provides preliminary analyses of relevant ethical considerations regarding human challenge studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, including the potential benefits to public health and to participants, the risks and uncertainty for participants, and the third-party risks (ie, to research staff and the wider community). We argue that these human challenge studies can reasonably be considered ethically acceptable insofar as such studies are accepted internationally and by the communities in which they are done, can realistically be expected to accelerate or improve vaccine development, have considerable potential to directly benefit participants, are designed to limit and minimise risks to participants, and are done with strict infection control measures to limit and reduce third-party risks.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.