Parasite and vector papers during the COVID-19 publication rush - BugBitten

Parasite and vector papers during the COVID-19 publication rush - BugBitten

Anja Choon

Editor at BugBitten

As a medical student who has lived in Germany, the UK, Nigeria, Spain and the US, Anja Choon has a deep interest in tropical health. So far, she worked for the Red Cross, Pro Health International, Nigeria Health Watch, the University of Münster and the School of Oriental and African Studies. In a former life, she was a language documenter and gained a PhD in Field Linguistics. She tweets from @Bolanja.

Parasite and vector papers during the COVID-19 publication rush

The current endemic has changed a lot in academic publishing, resulting in the fast production of large quantities of texts concerning COVID-19 and the drop of related fees. It has made new research more accessible but also increased the risk of letting malinformation get out. One hot topic right now is the repurposing of chloroquine / hydroxychloroquine. While this is a fascinating story filled with questionable presidential health advice, researchers receiving death threats, and possibly forged data, let’s not forget that people still study and write about other health topics … topics like parasites and vectors.

Anja Choon 5 Jun 2020

credit: Amanda Mills / CDC

On 30 January 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. On 11 March 2020, it officially became a pandemic. Two days later, there was a call to make “COVID-19 and coronavirus-related publications, and the available data supporting them, immediately accessible”. This led to the Public Health Emergency COVID-19 Initiative.