Discussion on compulsory disclosure of patients′ information during major infectious disease epidemic in China: a literature study

A regulation system for compulsory disclosure of patients′ information during major infectious disease epidemic should be formulated to enhance the capacity of coping with public health emergencies in China. Studies on major epidemic-related patients′ information disclosure published during 2002 – 2019 were searched through China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) with keywords of ‘patient + information disclosure’, ‘patient + privacy’ and ‘patient + compulsory medical treatment’. Of the 343 literatures preliminarily retrieved, 53 were included in the analysis. From the literatures reviewed, we retrieved a number of events of exposure to high health risk in some population groups (including medical personnel) in major public health emergencies due to non-disclosures of confirmed patients' traveling or exposure history and these events imposed great obstacles for the prevention and control of major epidemics. The results suggest that the regulation for compulsory disclosure of patients′ information during major infectious disease epidemic needs to be modified and perfected.