Research trends and hotspots on global influenza and inflammatory response based on bibliometrics

The influenza virus is considered as a kind of significant zoonotic infectious disease identified to date, with severe infections in humans characterized by excessive inflammation and tissue damage, usually resulting in serious complications. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying inflammation after influenza infection have been extensively studied, bibliometric analysis on the research hotspots and developing trends in this field has not been published heretofore. Articles related to influenza and inflammatory response were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database (1992-2024) and analyzed using various visualization tools. Finally, this study collected a total of 2,176 relevant articles, involving 13,184 researchers, 2,647 institutions, 78 countries/regions, and published in 723 journals. Most articles were published in the United States (928 articles), China (450 articles) and the United Kingdom (158 articles). Ross Vlahos was the most productive author. Furthermore, some journals, such as PLoS One and Frontiers in Immunology, made much contribution to the topic. The future research trends include airway stem cells and neuroendocrine cells as new directions for the treatment of influenza complications, as well as measures related to prevention, treatment, and research and development based on the COVID-19 pandemic. Through bibliometric analysis and summary of inflammatory response of influenza-related articles, this study ultimately summarizes new directions for preventing and treating influenza.