Worldwide trends in quantity and quality of published articles in the field of infectious diseases

BACKGROUND: Trying to confront with the widespread burden of infectious diseases, the society worldwide invests considerably on research. We evaluated the contribution of different world regions in research production in Infectious Diseases. METHODS: Using the online Pubmed database we retrieved articles from 38 journals included in the "Infectious Diseases" category of the "Journal Citation Reports" database of the Institute for Scientific Information for the period 1995–2002. The world was divided into 9 regions based on geographic, economic and scientific criteria. Using an elaborate retrieval system we obtained data on published articles from different world regions. In our evaluation we introduced an estimate of both quantity and quality of research produced from each world region per year using: (1) the total number of publications, (2) the mean impact factor of publications, and (3) the product of the above two parameters. RESULTS: Data on the country of origin of the research was available for 45,232 out of 45,922 retrieved articles (98.5 %). USA and Western Europe are by far the most productive regions concerning publications of research articles. However, the rate of increase in the production of articles was higher in Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia during the study period. The mean impact factor is highest for articles originating in the USA (3.42), while it was 2.82 for Western Europe and 2.73 for the rest of the world (7 regions combined). CONCLUSION: USA and Western Europe make up a striking 80% of the world's research production in Infectious Diseases in terms of both quantity and quality. However, all world regions achieved a gradual increase in the production of Infectious Diseases articles, with the regions ranking lower at present displaying the highest rate of increase

Leading role of an animal in a schizophrenic delusion. A case-report

AimTo impress the diversity of positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.MethodCase report and review of the literature (PubMed).ResultsMale patient, 43 years old, single, elementary school graduate, living with his mother. First hospitalization.Clinical featuresPersecutory ideas and auditory hallucinations dating from 8 months: he was convinced that his neighbor wanted to harm him; for this reason he had recruited his dog. He noted that the dog was following him when he was going out in the neighborhood, and was very aggressive towards him (he“heard” the dog barking at him continuously). His fear made him stop working (scrap dealer) and he was afraid of coming out of his home. He had even thought of poisoning the animal. Laboratory as well as neuroimaging exams (EEG, brain CT) were normal. The patient was treated with haloperidol (30 mg daily) and olanzapine (15 mg daily). He was discharged after 18 days. Three months later, he spontaneously stopped medication (15 mg olanzapine daily); in three weeks time the same ideas had resurfaced and was “hearing” the neighbor's dog barking again loudly at him. Since then he takes his medication regularly without experiencing any symptoms. Only one relevant article was found in the literature (Dening, T.R., and West, A.“The Dolittle phenomenon: hallucinatory voices from animals”, Psychopathology. 1990; 23: 40–45).ConclusionsAnimals could, rarely, play a key role in the delusional ideas of patients with schizophrenia. This doesn’t make these ideas less debilitating or even potentially dangerous.</jats:sec