Research trends on pathogenic Cryptococcus species in the last 20 years: a global analysis with focus on Brazil

Aims: Recent data demonstrates that cryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans or Cryptococcus gattii kills approximately 600,000 people per year in the world. In Brazil, cryptococcosis has recently been identified as the most fatal mycosis in AIDS patients. In this study, we aimed to map research into C. neoformans and C. gattii in the world, with a focus on the Brazilian contribution to this area. Methods: The parameters used for this analysis were based on publication records, including number of articles published, citation indices, journal impact factor and distribution of authorship in the last two decades. Results: Our global analysis of publications demonstrated that, in the last 20 years, the USA was the country that produced the highest number of scientific articles in the Cryptococcus field, while Brazil occupied the third position. Brazilian productivity, however, showed a steady tendency to increase, in contrast to the USA and other countries. The average impact factor of journals at which articles authored by Brazilians were published was 2.58, which represented approximately half the value found for papers of American authorship. Studies authored by Brazilian scientists showed relatively low averages of citations per article, in comparison to papers published by researchers from the USA, France, Australia, The Netherlands and Germany, among others. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the contribution of Brazilian scientists to the Cryptococcus field is continually growing, although papers produced in Brazil apparently have poor repercussion in comparison to those generated in developed countries.