Scientific Research on Malaria: A Bibliometric Analysis in Latin America, 2011-2020

Introduction: Malaria is a protozoan disease that continues to be a serious public health problem in Latin America. The goal was to describe the scientific production of malaria in Latin America during the period 2011-2020. Materials and methods: Bibliometric study. A systematic search was carried out in Scopus, articles in IMRD format carried out in humans with malaria as the main variable were included, during the period 2011-2020. Results: 1731 malaria articles were found in Scopus, of which 590 (34.08%) were included according to the selection criteria. Scientific publication increased from 2011 to 2020 by 147.22%. It was found that 415 (70.33%) studies were published in Q1 journals and 141 (23.9%) published in Malaria Journal. Likewise, 506 (85.76%) studies were written in English language and the most influential funding entity was the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico 117 (11.44%). In 271 (45.93%) studies, the corresponding author had Brazilian affiliation, and in 53 (8.98%) articles the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz predominated. Regarding the design, 274 (46.44%) studies were descriptive, 260 (44.07%) were epidemiological and 286 (48.47%) were carried out with people from the community. Latin American scientific production on malaria has increased; there is predominance in Q1 journals, with Malaria Journal being the most important. Most of the studies are descriptive related to epidemiology. Efforts are required to increase scientific production in the rest of the Latin American countries with a high prevalence of malaria

Malaria research in India during 2003-2012: a bibliometric analysis

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyze Indian researchers' publications on malaria research and to serve as a guide to libraries needing to collect information on malaria. It also seeks to compare malaria affected Asian countries global rank with their publication and death rates. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of the study Indian researchers' publication data which were indexed in Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS) were used. Various statistical techniques and bibliometric measures have been employed for further analysis. Findings – The present study found out 2,020 documents with h-index of 48, published by Indian researchers which were indexed in WoS during 2003 to 2012 and the majority of them were articles (81.43 percent). Malaria Journal is the most favored research journal among the Indian research community which covers 97 papers. A.P. Dash contributed maximum number of 136 (6.74 percent) papers. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is the largest Indian funding agency with 184 (9.11 percent) research grants. Research limitations/implications – Limitation by geographical area and time, i.e. the study only focuses the research publication of Indian researchers on malaria research during 2003 to 2012. Originality/value – This is the first attempt to apply bibliometric techniques to analyze malaria research by Indian researchers, and, more generally for a country which is very badly affected by the disease.

Efficacy of Immunodiagnosis of Falciparum Malaria at Different Levels of Parasitemia

Background: Among the several human species of malarial parasites, Plasmodium falciparum can cause severe infection and if left untreated, there may be fatal complications. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment have been proposed to reduce the morbidity and mortality from malaria. Objective: To assess the diagnostic efficacy of antigen detection by immunochromatographic test (ICT) at different levels of parasitemia for diagnosis of malaria. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in the department of Microbiology, Mymensingh Medical College for a period of one year from July 2005 to June 2006. A total of 98 clinically suspected malaria patients were included in this study. Peripheral blood films (PBF) were examined under microscope and parasite count/?L of blood was performed. Subsequently ICT for malaria antigen was done for each case. Results: Out of 59 cases positive by microscopic examination of blood films, 54 cases had parasitemia >600 parasites/?L of blood and all these cases were positive by ICT for malaria antigen. Rest 5 cases showed parasitemia <600 parasites/?L of blood and one case was found positive by ICT for malaria antigen. Conclusion: Immunochromatographic test can be used for early diagnosis of malaria with hyperparasitemia, especially for cerebral malaria. Journal of Enam Medical College; Vol 3 No 2 July 2013; Page 88-90 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v3i2.16130