A clinical-statistical study on COVID-19 infection and death status at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/ Baghdad

Thematic evolution of coronavirus disease: a longitudinal co-word analysis

Purpose

Using science mapping analysis approach and co-word analysis, the present study explores and visualizes research fields and thematic evolution of the coronavirus. Based on this method, one can get a picture of the real content of the themes in the mentioned thematic area and identify the main minor and emerging themes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted based on co-word science mapping analysis under a longitudinal study (from 1988 to 2020). The collection of documents in this study was further divided into three subperiods: 1988–1998, 1999–2009 and 2010–2020. In order to perform science mapping analysis based on co-word bibliographic networks, SciMAT was utilized as a bibliometric tool. Moreover, WoS, PubMed and Scopus bibliographic databases were used to download all records.

Findings

In this study, strategic diagrams were demonstrated for the coronavirus research for a chronological period to assess the most relevant themes. Each diagram depended on the sum of documents linked to each research topic. In the first period (1988–1998), the most centralizations were on virology and evaluation of coronavirus structure and its structural and nonstructural proteins. In the second period (1999–2009), with due attention to high population density in eastern Asia and the increasing number of people affected with the new generation of coronavirus (named severe acute respiratory syndrome virus or SARS virus), publications have been concentrated on “antiviral activity.” In the third period (2010–2020), there was a tendency to investigate clinical syndromes, and most of the publications and citations were about hot topics like “severe acute respiratory syndrome,” “coronavirus” and “respiratory tract disease.” Scientometric analysis of the field of coronavirus can be regarded as a roadmap for future research and policymaking in this important area.

Originality/value

The originality of this research can be considered in two ways. First, the strategic diagrams of coronavirus are drawn in four thematic areas including motor cluster, basic and transversal cluster, highly developed cluster and emerging and declining cluster. Second, COVID-19 is mentioned as a hot topic of research.

The impact of lymphoid memory cells in different ages of COVID-19 patients

Coronaviruses are highly pathogenic and transmissible viruses. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that emerged in December 2019 is increasingly recognized as a serious, worldwide public health concern. Respiratory infections and the hyper-inflammatory response induced by SARS-CoV-2 play a key role in disease severity and death in infected COVID-19 patients. However, much uncertainty still exists about the pathogenesis and various effects of COVID-19 on immune system. It seems that memory T cells can reduce the severity of COVID-19 infection by inducing a protective immune response. Memory T cells along with protective antibodies are the main defenses and also protective barrier against recurrent COVID-19 infection. The role of Memory T cells varies in different ages and the severity of COVID-19 infection varies between children, adults and the elderly. Furthermore, the aim of this review is to evaluate the role of memory cells in mild, moderate and severe infected COVID-19 patients with different ages.