Abstract
BackgroundToxoplasmosis endangers the unborn child if its infectious agent - toxoplasma gondii - is transmitted transplacentally during pregnancy. Although this condition occurs in all parts of the world and represents a major public health burden, no detailed knowledge on the global research architecture of congenital toxoplasmosis is available thus far. Hence, it was the aim of this study to assess the related global research activity over the past 110 years.MethodsWe employed the NewQIS platform, which combines established scientometric and socioeconomic analysis tools with novel visualizing techniques such as density equalizing mapping projections.ResultsIn the Web of Science, 13,044 congenital toxoplasmosis-related items published between 1900 and 2012 were identified. These were issued by 26,483 authors originating from 125 countries. The US was the dominating nation (38.7 % of total scientific output), followed by France (10.9 %) and Great Britain (9.2 %). The US also led the ranking in regards to semi-qualitative parameters (total citations, country-specific h-indices and citation rates). When research activity was related to economic figures, the ratio of total toxoplasmosis publications to the total GDP listed Switzerland first with an average of 589.35 toxoplasmosis-related publications per GDP in 1000 Bio US-$, followed by France (545.16), the UK (486.13) and Brazil (431.84) and the US (311.11). The relation of toxoplasmosis-specific publications to the economic power indicator GDP per capita in 1000 US-$ revealed that the US was ranked first with 97.65 toxoplasmosis-related publications/GDP per capita in 1000 US-$, followed by Brazil (85.95). Subject area analysis indicated a relative shortage of studies that addressed pharmacological or public health aspects of congenital toxoplasmosis.ConclusionsThis study is the first in-depth approach to sketch a global picture of the congenital toxoplasmosis research architecture. In contrast to other fields of biomedical research, not only high-income countries play a major role regarding congenital toxoplasmosis research but also countries such as Brazil that have a high incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis.
Highlights
Toxoplasmosis endangers the unborn child if its infectious agent - toxoplasma gondii - is transmitted transplacentally during pregnancy
Average incidence rates of 4 T. gondii infections per 1000 pregnancies are reported for European countries [5,6,7,8], while France is having the highest incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis based on 2700 documented seroconversions in pregnant women annually [9]
General parameters We identified a total of 13,044 congenital toxoplasmosis (CT)-related publications issued between 1900 and 2012. 10,026 of these items were articles
Summary
Toxoplasmosis endangers the unborn child if its infectious agent - toxoplasma gondii - is transmitted transplacentally during pregnancy This condition occurs in all parts of the world and represents a major public health burden, no detailed knowledge on the global research architecture of congenital toxoplasmosis is available far. It was the aim of this study to assess the related global research activity over the past 110 years. Atypical toxoplasma create a more virulent parasite population in South America so congenital toxoplasmosis presents more severely compared to Europe. These lesions were larger, more numerous and more likely to affect the retina [14,15,16]
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