Malaria and artemisinin resistance: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

With roughly 50 % of the global population at risk for infection, malaria is one of the most serious public health problems in the world. This infection is caused by single-celled protozoa of the genus Plasmodium. By the turn of the century, the majority of antimalarial drugs were no longer effective against Plasmodium falciparum. However, one year after World Health Organization’s final endorsement for the global use of ACTs, an appearance of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum was seen in the border regions of Thailand and Cambodia and has since spread to other areas on the globe in subsequent years. The purpose of this work is to summarize the knowledge structure and trend of malaria and artemisinin resistance from 2012 to 2022. The VOS viewer application was used to bibliometrically analyze publications from 2012 to 2022. A total of 169 papers that discussed the keywords were used. VOS viewer application was used to produce maps based on the scientific data between the top authors and top terms in clusters. The research trend of artemisinin resistance and malaria was reported to be on the decline from 2019 to 2022. The bibliographic analysis offered an intellectual framework for the study area by identification of research groups and themes. The years with the most publications were 2015-2017, with 23 articles published each year. The most often used keywords in the research were artemisinin resistance (38 occurrences). The spread of artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum in significant regions of Southeast Asia threatens to destabilize malaria control globally. One of the most pressing global health concerns today is preventing artemisinin resistance from spreading to Africa, where the consequences for childhood mortality might be severe.