Abstract
Assessment of the relative impact of diseases and pathogens is important for agencies and other organizations charged with providing disease surveillance, management and control. It also helps funders of disease-related research to identify the most important areas for investment. Decisions as to which pathogens or diseases to target are often made using complex risk assessment approaches; however, these usually involve evaluating a large number of hazards as it is rarely feasible to conduct an in-depth appraisal of each. Here we propose the use of the H-index (or Hirsch index) as an alternative rapid, repeatable and objective means of assessing pathogen impact. H-index scores for 1,414 human pathogens were obtained from the Institute for Scientific Information's Web of Science (WOS) in July/August 2010. Scores were compared for zoonotic/non-zoonotic, and emerging/non-emerging pathogens, and across taxonomic groups. H-indices for a subset of pathogens were compared with Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) estimates for the diseases they cause. H-indices ranged from 0 to 456, with a median of 11. Emerging pathogens had higher H-indices than non-emerging pathogens. Zoonotic pathogens tended to have higher H-indices than human-only pathogens, although the opposite was observed for viruses. There was a significant correlation between the DALY of a disease and the H-index of the pathogen(s) that cause it. Therefore, scientific interest, as measured by the H-index, appears to be a reflection of the true impact of pathogens. The H-index method can be utilized to set up an objective, repeatable and readily automated system for assessing pathogen or disease impact.
Highlights
Assessment of the potential impact of diseases and pathogens is important for international, national and regional agencies and other organisations charged with providing disease surveillance and mitigation measures including implementation of disease management and control
The H-index scores for pathogens from the database of infectious organisms [3] were highly over-dispersed with most pathogens producing relatively low scores. Those pathogens with the highest scores were examples of the following: person-toperson transmitted viruses (Hepatitis A, B or C virus, Human Herpesvirus 4, Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1, Human papillomavirus) or bacteria (Helicobacter pylori, Mycobacterium tuberculosis), agents causing opportunistic oral and genital infection (Candida albicans), bacteria causing multiple clinical symptoms (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella Typhimurium, Streptococcus pneumonia), food-borne bacterial pathogens (Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes), model organisms for laboratory studies (Bacillus subtilis, Vesicular stomatitis virus), major tropical illnesses (Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania major) or yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae); an occasional opportunistic infection but mainly used within the brewing and baking industries
This study aimed to examine the use of the H-index as a tool for assessing the relative impact of pathogens
Summary
Assessment of the potential impact of diseases and pathogens is important for international, national and regional agencies and other organisations charged with providing disease surveillance and mitigation measures including implementation of disease management and control. It is useful for funders of research so that they can identify the most important areas for investment. Decisions as to which specific pathogens or diseases to target are often made using risk assessment techniques as prioritisation tools. This usually involves evaluating a large number of hazards where it is not feasible to conduct an in-depth appraisal of all pathogens or diseases. All risk assessments are biased in some way; either by the quality of the evidence utilised, time taken for its collection and the timeliness of results or by the opinion of experts employed to make judgements on topics
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