Dengue research in India: A scientometric analysis of publications, 2003-12

Abstract

The present study quantitatively analyze Indian dengue research output during the 10 years from 2003 to 2012, using Scopus international multidisciplinary database. The study focused on global publication output, share, rank, and citation impact of top 15 most productive nations, India's publications output, growth, global publication share and research impact, international collaborative papers share in national output and the share of major international collaborative partner countries in total India's international collaborative papers, contribution of various sub-fi elds and distribution by population age groups, productivity and citation impact of its leading Indian institutions and authors and Indian contribution in most productive journals. Indian contribution in dengue fever research consisted of 910 papers, which increased from 27 papers in 2003 to 193 papers in 2012, witnessing an annual average growth rate of 28.19%.Among the top 15 most productive countries, India holds second position in dengue fever research output, with global publication share of 10.22% during 2003-12. The average citation per paper scored by India was 3.27, the least among the top 15 most productive countries during 2003-12. India's share of international collaborative papers was 10.55% during 2003-12, which increased from 9.12% during 2003-07 to 11.13% during 2008-12. The present India's research efforts in dengue research are low in view of the 50,222 cases of dengue in 2012 alone. The country needs to increase its research output and also increase its research impact substantially particularly through enhanced national and international collaboration, besides evolving a national policy for identifi cation, monitoring and control of dengue cases and also evolving a research strategy with suffi cient funding commitment to solve this growing national problem.

A cross sectional study of dengue virus infection in febrile patients presumptively diagnosed of malaria in Maiduguri and Jos plateau, Nigeria

“…Unplanned urbanization is a major factor in facilitating the increase of these mosquito populations 33. Accumulation of non-biodegradable, human-made containers in and around living areas has provided the aquatic environment required by these mosquitoes34,35, which is commonly seen in and around Jos and Maiduguri, where most of the patients in this study came from, and an obvious potential cause for dengue fever outbreaks. Public enlightenment and environmental sanitation will be very important to limit the number of aquatic environments that can harbor mosquitoes.…”