ABSTRACT
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a historic global research effort to create a knowledge base that can guide mitigation strategies. This study uses the Scopus database to examine the literature published by Nigerian institutions since the outbreak of COVID-19, with a focus on bibliometric items, global collaboration, Scopus subject area classification, document types, active authors and institutions, journals, highly cited papers, and funding agencies. Method: We searched for articles indexed in the Scopus database between January 1st, 2020 and July 20th, 2022 using predetermined search terms. All article types and study designs were included. Results: During the period under consideration, researchers affiliated with Nigerian institutions published a total of 2,217 COVID-19 papers out of a total of 281,589 global outputs, implying that Nigerian institutions contributed 0.8% of total global COVID-19 scientific output. The majority of the documents published were articles/original research (n = 1,455, 68.4%). The National Institute of Health was the top funder, and the University of Ibadan was the most active institution. The vast majority of publications (38.3%) were in the field of health sciences, with 1197 papers in the medicine sub-category. The top journal was Pan African Medical Journal, which published 114 COVID-19 papers with at least one Nigerian institution affiliation. The most active collaborator with Nigerian institutions was the United States. With 745 citations, the most cited paper with at least one Nigerian institution affiliation was from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control. Conclusion: Nigerian institutions have contributed to the scientific output of COVID-19. There is, however, a need to improve research capacity across all subject areas.
ABSTRACT
The present pandemic has posed a crisis to the economy of the world and the health sector. Therefore, the race to expand research to understand some good molecular targets for vaccine and therapeutic development for SARS-CoV-2 is inevitable. The newly discovered coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a positive sense, single-stranded RNA, and enveloped virus, assigned to the beta CoV genus. The virus (SARS-CoV-2) is more infectious than the previously detected coronaviruses (MERS and SARS). Findings from many studies have revealed that S protein and RdRp are good targets for drug repositioning, novel therapeutic development (antibodies and small molecule drugs), and vaccine discovery. Therapeutics such as chloroquine, convalescent plasma, monoclonal antibodies, spike binding peptides, and small molecules could alter the ability of S protein to bind to the ACE-2 receptor, and drugs such as remdesivir (targeting SARS-CoV-2 RdRp), favipir, and emetine could prevent SASR-CoV-2 RNA synthesis. The novel vaccines such as mRNA1273 (Moderna), 3LNP-mRNAs (Pfizer/BioNTech), and ChAdOx1-S (University of Oxford/Astra Zeneca) targeting S protein have proven to be effective in combating the present pandemic. Further exploration of the potential of S protein and RdRp is crucial in fighting the present pandemic.
