International collaboration among medical societies is an effective way to boost Latin American production of articles on tuberculosis

Abstract

Objective: Most studies of tuberculosis originate from high-income countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis. A review of the scientific production on tuberculosis in Latin American countries, most of which are low- or middle-income countries (some with high or intermediate tuberculosis incidence rates), would improve the understanding of public health challenges, clinical needs, and research priorities. The aims of this systematic review were to determine what has been published recently in Latin America, to identify the leading authors involved, and to quantify the impact of international collaborations. Methods: We used PubMed to identify relevant manuscripts on pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), published between 2013 and 2018. We selected only studies conducted in countries with an annual tuberculosis incidence of ≥ 10,000 reported cases and an annual MDR-TB incidence of ≥ 300 estimated cases, including Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. Articles were stratified by country, type, and topic. Results: We identified as eligible 395 studies on PTB and 188 studies on DR/MDR-TB-of which 96.4% and 96.8%, respectively, were original studies; 35.5% and 32.4%, respectively, had an epidemiological focus; and 52.7% and 36.2%, respectively, were conducted in Brazil. The recent Latin American Thoracic Association/European Respiratory Society/Brazilian Thoracic Association collaborative project boosted the production of high-quality articles on PTB and DR/MDR-TB in Latin America. Conclusions: Most of the recent Latin American studies on tuberculosis were conducted in Brazil, Mexico, or Peru. Collaboration among medical societies facilitates the production of scientific papers on tuberculosis. Such initiatives are in support of the World Health Organization call for intensified research and innovation in tuberculosis.

Disparity in biomedical publication trends in the CARICOM countries: Is there a need for a more vibrant research culture in the region?

“…28 Many of the articles from Haiti are published in collaboration with authors from the United States and Canada. [29][30][31]…”

Brazilian Tuberculosis Research Network: 20 years of history in the fight against Tuberculosis

“…(5) Além disso, é reconhecido que a produção científica da REDE-TB tem contribuído para impulsionar as publicações no Brasil. Em 2019, Migliori et al (6) mostraram que o Brasil era o país com maior número de artigos sobre tuberculose, respondendo por 208 (52,7%) do total de 395 artigos da América Latina, e que os autores mais citados eram membros do o grupo REDE-TB. O reconhecimento internacional da rede também pode ser observado com sua participação no BRICS, onde atua na elaboração e operacionalização da rede de pesquisa em tuberculose nos países associados ao bloco BRICS.…”

Tuberculosis series 2019

“…(1) In Latin America, there is a need to identify priorities in tuberculosis research and to increase the number of publications based on local data. (2,3) In this issue of the journal, Migliori et al (16) report the results of a systematic review that identified studies on tuberculosis, drug-resistant tuberculosis and MDR-TB, published in priority countries of Latin America (Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina). The authors found that the level of scientific production was highest in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.…”