Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33326062›Full record

ReviewMonash bioethics review2020

Invisible epidemics: ethics and asymptomatic infection.

Euzebiusz Jamrozik, Michael J Selgelid

Open access · hybridAbstract readHistorical ArticleReview
In one paragraph

Review in Monash bioethics review, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Ethics of Antibiotic Course Duration: Shorter is Better.The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Clinical metagenomics: ethical issues.Journal of medical microbiology · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Euzebiusz JamrozikThe Ethox Centre & Wellcome Centre for Ethics and the Humanities, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Zeb.Jamrozik@monash.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5940-602X
Michael J SelgelidMonash Bioethics Centre, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Monash University · AUThe Royal Melbourne Hospital · AU

Funding

Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust [203132/Z/16/Z]Wellcome Trust [216355/Z/19/Z]
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Interactions between microbes and human hosts can lead to a wide variety of possible outcomes including benefits to the host, asymptomatic infection, disease (which can be more or less severe), and/or death. Whether or not they themselves eventually develop disease, asymptomatic carriers can often transmit disease-causing pathogens to others. This phenomenon has a range of ethical implications for clinical medicine, public health, and infectious disease research. The implications of asymptomatic infection are especially significant in situations where, and/or to the extent that, the microbe in question is transmissible, potentially harmful, and/or untreatable. This article reviews the history and concept of asymptomatic infection, and relevant ethical issues associated with this phenomenon. It illustrates the role and ethical significance of asymptomatic infection in outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics-including recent crises involving drug resistance, Zika, and Covid19. Serving as the Introduction to this Special Issue of Monash Bioethics Review, it also provides brief summaries of the other articles comprising this collection.

Indexed as

Asymptomatic InfectionsBioethical IssuesEpidemicsEthics, ClinicalEthics, ResearchHistory, 19th CenturyHistory, 20th CenturyHistory, 21st CenturyHumansPublic HealthAntimicrobial resistanceAsymptomatic infectionCarrierIsolationMicrobial determinismQuarantine

Identifiers

PMID33326062
PMCPMC7738616
OpenAlexW3112761697

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.