Epidemiology, diagnosis, vaccines, and bibliometric analysis of the 100 top-cited studies on Hepatitis E virus

Introduction: In low-income countries, Hepatitis E infection is a common cause of acute hepatitis. So far, only two recombinant vaccines (rHEV and HEV 239) have been developed against Hepatitis E virus (HEV). Of which HEV 239 is licensed in China, but is not yet available in any other country. Objective: This study aims to discuss epidemiology, diagnosis, available vaccines for HEV, and provides an overview of 100 top-cited studies on HEV. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted on the topic “HEV” through a systematic search of the Web of Science. The keywords used were “Hepatitis E” and retrieved articles were assessed for number of attributes. Results: The search returned a total of 3,235 publications, cited 95,858 times with h-index 129. The main finding for the 100 top-cited articles on HEV showed: number of authors ranging from 1 to 23, cited references range from 4 to 304, global citations score per year range from 6.61 to 175, and global citations score range from 148 to 791. Of the 100 top-cited studies, the authors who published most articles are Purcell (n = 18), Meng (n = 17), and Emerson (n = 15). Most The largest share of articles on HEV was contributed by United States of America (n = 49) with 12,795 citations. The National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases was leading institute with greatest number of publications (n = 16), cited 3,950 times. Conclusions: The studies conducted on HEV have increased over time. The information presented would be very useful in decision making for policy makers providing health care, and for academicians in providing a reference point for future research.