SynthesisWellcome open research2026
Sero-epidemiological studies of pathogen burden: A scoping review.
Synthesis in Wellcome open research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Methodological advances in serological testing have made it feasible to quantify antibodies to multiple pathogens simultaneously. This has been used to study the impact of pathogen burden, i.e., cumulative lifetime exposure to persistent pathogens, on health and mortality outcomes. However, definitions for pathogen burden using serological data vary considerably. It is unclear how to best combine serological data for multiple pathogens for exposure/outcome definitions in epidemiological studies. Methods: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a scoping review of all relevant publications from MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus until May 1 Results: We included a total of 74 studies from 19 countries (published 2000-2025). Serology data from 50 different pathogens were analysed across all studies, with pathogen burden measured by combining a range of 3-17 pathogens across studies into a single metric. Approaches included counts of seropositive result, quantiles of antibody titres, and more complex statistical analyses to group pathogens. No study gave a clinical/scientific rationale for the approaches chosen. Conclusions: Various analytical approaches have been used to define pathogen burden but there was limited justification for the chosen methodological approaches. More integrated approaches are needed for combining scientific and clinical knowledge of the interaction across different pathogens and epidemiological evidence into a meaningful measure of pathogen burden.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.