Mapping Trends and Hotspots Regarding Clinical Research on COVID-19: A Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, which began in December 2019, has not been completely controlled; therefore, COVID-19 has received much attention from countries around the world. Many related clinical studies, such as clinical trials, have been published, but to the knowledge of the authors, there has been no bibliometric analysis of these publications focusing on clinical research studies on COVID-19.Methods: Global publications on COVID-19 from January 2020 to December 2020 were extracted from the Web of Science (WOS) collection database. The VOSviewer software and CiteSpace were employed to perform a bibliometric study. In addition, we obtained information on relevant clinical trials from the website http://clinicaltrials.gov.Results: China published most of the articles in this field and had the highest number of citations and H-index. The Journal of Medical Virology published most of the articles related to COVID-19. In terms of institutions, Huazhong University of Science and Technology had the most publications, and Wang, JW received the highest number of citations.Conclusion: The diagnosis, prevention, and prognosis of COVID-19 are still the focus of attention at present. The overall analysis of the disease were identified as the emerging topics from the perspectives of epidemiology and statistics. However, finding an effective treatment remains the focus of clinical trials.

Identifying risk factors for mortality in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19

This article is an evidence commentary based on the study ‘Predictors of mortality in hospitalised COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis’ by Tian et al, published in volume 92 of the Journal of Medical Virology in 2020. This commentary critically appraises the methods used within this systematic review and meta-analysis and discusses the findings in the context of clinical practice.

Methanol detection in commercial sanitizing gels, during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The ethanol (active) and methanol (toxic) substances content were quantified for commercial sanitizing gels. The health emergency caused by the COVID-19 epidemic has motivated to production of sanitizing gels to cover higher demand. The analytical composition of 24 commercial gels is reported (15 produced by national and transnational companies, and 9 collected gels which were in use at public areas). From the results it was found, that only one brand of 15 gels meets the quality requirements regarding 70% (wt./wt.) of ethanol content. Concerning to the collected gels, none of them contains the minimum active compound required. The non-compliance of this requirement means that these gels present its sanitizing action diminished. A striking result is that 25% of commercially packaged gels contain methanol - a toxic substance - in alarming amounts, hundreds of times more than the FDA upper limits requirement. References Alvarez-Bobadilla, G., Domínguez-Cherit, G., Acosta-Nava, V. M., Guizar-Rangel, M. T., Guido-Guerra, R. E., & Garduño-López, A. L. (2020). Manejo perioperatorio del paciente con COVID-19. Revista Mexicana de Anestesiología, 43(2), 109-120. Chávez, N. P. S., Reyes Gómez, U., Hernández, U. R., Hernández, D. R., Ponce, B. R., Valencia, H. S., ... & Palacios, E. S. (2010). Evaluación de la higiene de manos, su impacto después de un programa de mejora continua en el Hospital Regional del ISSSTE en Oaxaca. Revista de Enfermedades infecciosas en Pediatría, 23(92), 116-123. Coldea, T. E., Socaciu, C., Fetea, F., POP, R. M., & FLOREA, M. (2013). Rapid quantitative analysis of ethanol and prediction of methanol content in traditional fruit brandies from Romania, using FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 41(1), 143-149.Balderas-López, M., Zamora-Macorra, M., & Martínez-Alcántara, S. (2019). Musculoskeletic disorders in workers of tire manufacturing: analysis of the work process and. Acta Universitaria, 29. Fisher. https://fscimage.fishersci.com/msds/14280.htm). Consulted Jun 2020. Guilhermetti, M., Wiirzler, L. M., Facio, B. C., da Silva Furlan, M., Meschial, W. C., Tognim, M. B., ... & Cardoso, C. L. (2010). Antimicrobial efficacy of alcohol-based hand gels. Journal of Hospital Infection, 74(3), 219-224. Ma, Q. X., Shan, H., Zhang, H. L., Li, G. M., Yang, R. M., & Chen, J. M. (2020). Potential utilities of mask‐wearing and instant hand hygiene for fighting SARS‐CoV‐2. Journal of medical virology. Pandejpong, D., Danchaivijitr, S., Vanprapa, N., Pandejpong, T., & Cook, E. F. (2012). Appropriate time-interval application of alcohol hand gel on reducing influenza-like illness among preschool children: a randomized, controlled trial. American journal of infection control, 40(6), 507-511. Paulson, D. S., Fendler, E. J., Dolan, M. J., & Williams, R. A. (1999). A close look at alcohol gel as an antimicrobial sanitizing agent. American journal of infection control, 27(4), 332-338. UNAM.http://vinculacion.dgire.unam.mx/vinculacion-1/Congreso-Trabajos pagina/PDF/Congreso Estudiantil-2014/Proyectos-2014-Area/Ciencias Biologicas/ciencias%20de%20la%20salud/3.30%20CIN2014A10268.pdf. Consulted Jun 2020.

TBE in Russia

TBE was first revealed in the Far-East Taiga Forest in the Soviet Union in springs and summers between 1933-19351 and it was further investigated as of 1937 at a large multidisciplinary expedition led by Professor Lev Zilber, the Head of the Moscow Medical Virology laboratory.2,3 The expedition demonstrated that the disease develops in humans after a tick bite,4 and the “Taiga Tick” Ixodes persulcatus was established as the virus carrier. The viral etiology of the disease was confirmed and the first strain of TBE virus (TBEV) was isolated. The clinical disease spectrum in humans and the respective pathology were described and the effectiveness of immunoglobulin-therapy was shown.5 Based on morphological studies since 1937 TBE was assigned to the group of neuro-infections as an independent nosological entity.6,7

Scientific efforts on SARS-CoV-2 research: A global survey analysis

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has been a global pandemic. Researchers have made great efforts to investigate SARS-CoV-2. However, there are few studies analyzing the general situation of SARS-CoV-2 research at global level. This study aimed to characterize global scientific efforts based on SARS-CoV-2 publications. Methodology: SARS-CoV-2 -related publications were retrieved using Web of Science. The number of publications, citation, country, journal, study topic, total confirmed cases, and total deaths were analyzed. Results: A total of 441 publications were identified. China contributed the largest number of publications (198, 44.90%), followed by USA (51, 11.56%), Italy (28, 6.35%), Germany (19, 4.31%), and South Korea (13, 2.95%). Upper-middle-income economies (51.70%) produced the most SARS-CoV-2 publications, followed by high-income (45.12%), lower-middle-income (2.95%), and low-income economies (0.23%). The research output had a significant correlations with total confirmed cases (r = 0.666, p = 0.000) and total deaths (r = 0.610, p = 0.000). China had the highest total citations (1947), followed by USA (204), and Germany (54). China also had the highest average citations (9.83), followed by Netherlands (5.80), and Canada (5.43). The most popular journals were Journal of Medical Virology, Eurosurveillance, and Emerging Microbes and Infections. The most discussed topic was the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions: Scientific research on SARS-CoV-2 is from worldwide researchers' efforts, with some countries and journals having special contributions. The countries with more total confirmed cases and total deaths tend to have more research output in the field of SARS-CoV-2. China was the most prolific country, and had the highest quality of publications on SARS-CoV-2.

INDICADORES BIBLIOMÉTRICOS DOS ARTIGOS SOBRE "COVID-19" NA BASE SCOPUS

A COVID-19 é uma doença viral recém descoberta, causada pelo SARS-CoV-2, que se tornou uma pandemia com 25 milhões de infectados e 848 mil óbitos. Este trabalho objetiva avaliar a produção científica acerca deste tema, através do levantamento de dados na base Scopus de todos os artigos publicados em periódicos que apresentam o termo “COVID-19” em título, resumo ou palavras-chaves. Os resultados obtidos foram: países com mais publicações sobre COVID-19: Estados Unidos, China e Itália. O Brasil ficou em 11º. Instituições com mais publicações: HUST, Tongji Medical College e Harvard Medical School. No Brasil: USP (São Paulo), FIOCRUZ e UFMG. Os autores com mais publicações no mundo são Mahase, E., Iaccobucci, G. e Rimmer, A. No Brasil, Angeletti, S., Benvenuto, D., Ciccozzi, M. e Giovanetti, M. Os periódicos que mais publicaram sobre o tema: British Medical Journal, Clinical Research, International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health e Journal Of Medical Virology. No Brasil: Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Clinics São Paulo Brazil e Ciência E Saúde Coletiva. Principias áreas de vinculação dos artigos: Medicina, Ciências Sociais e Bioquímica e Genética. Idiomas das publicações: Inglês, Chinês e Espanhol. No Brasil, o português foi o segundo idioma mais utilizado. Concluiu-se que os países com maior poder econômico apresentaram mais publicações sobre todos os temas e sobre COVID-19, porém, nesse caso, com maior participação daqueles países que foram mais impactados pela doença, a exemplo de Brasil e Itália, que sobem no ranque de países que mais publicaram sobre a doença.

Scientometrics analysis of recent trends in Global Corona virus Research

Background: The worldwide pandemic COVID-19 has produced a wealth of research more rapidly after the outbreak. In just a couple of months, there is a rise in several studies on Coronavirus, adding up to the scholarly literature.Method: The current study attempts to Scientometric analyze very recent literature on Coronaviruses just before and after the outbreak. Besides, the objective of this exploration was to assess the global research progress on Coronavirus in recent times. The current research is an analytical descriptive study using Scientometrics. The study sample includes research papers about the Coronavirus indexed in Web of Science (WoS) database from January 1, 2019 to May 14, 2020. The records with topic search (includes Title, Abstract, Keywords and Keywords Plus) “coronavirus” were extracted. These data were analyzed by MS Excel and the visualizations were created using TableauResult: The results showed that 2551 scientific literature about the Coronavirus was indexed in WoS. A considerable number of these articles were published in journals such as the Journal of Medical Virology, Viruses, Nature, and Lancet. Authors from China, USA and Italy were the most prolific authors. About 47.51% articles received total of 11435 citations with an average of 9 citations, which indicates that nearly half articles were cited in another publication. The highest and lowest citations for these articles were 737 and 1, respectively.Conclusion: These results show a high rate of research on Coronavirus.

COVID-19: INFORMAÇÕES SOBRE TRANSMISSIBILIDADE, SINTOMAS, POPULAÇÃO DE RISCO, FATORES DE PREVENÇÃO E INTERVENÇÕES TERAPÊUTICAS

A transmissão do novo coronavírus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, causador da doença coronavírus 2019 ou COVID-19) de pessoa a pessoa, para diferentes países, áreas ou territórios, gera intensa preocupação entre pesquisadores e a população em geral. Até o dia 9 de maio já foram registrados quase 4 milhões de casos confirmados do COVID-19 em todo o mundo, com quase 270 mil mortes associadas (taxa de fatalidade próxima a 7%). Objetivando disponibilizar informações importantes sobre o novo coronavírus, para auxiliar a comunidade científica e orientar a população em geral, esta revisão de literatura foi elaborada a partir de informações coletadas na base de dados Pubmed, na plataforma ScienceDirect, e especificamente na revista científica Nature Research e nos jornais científicos The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Medical Virology, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), bem como nos repositórios BioRxiv e MedRxiv e diferentes órgãos internacionais de saúde. Ainda são recentes os estudos referentes a intervenções terapêuticas a serem consideradas contra o SARS-CoV-2, bem como há a necessidade de maiores investigações quanto à patogenicidade e transmissibilidade desse vírus, e quanto aos seus efeitos em crianças, gestantes e animais.