Global Trends of Research on Meningococcal Disease in the 21st century

Meningococcal disease (MD) is an infectious disease caused by Neisseria meningitides (Nm) with high morbidity and mortality. The disease has been studied for more than two centuries and remains a serious concern in global public health. To assess the evolving research landscape of MD, an extensive analysis was conducted on multiple indicators retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database. These indicators comprised publication volume, country, author and affiliation, number of citations, journal, keyword cluster, and research impact bursts. The findings from the bibliometric evaluation and visualization tools revealed a volatile increase in publication volume on MD after 2000. The United States and European countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, have been conducting extensive research on MD. France, the United Kingdom, and the United States have emerged as the predominant research groups for MD in recent years. The application of keyword co-occurrence investigation and the identification of impactful citation bursts elucidated the primary research focus in MD research. Vaccine development, immunization practice, epidemic prevention, and MD control are fields that have attracted continuous attention in MD research. The research maps generated from our comprehensive analysis provide invaluable support to researchers exploring MD.