Intersection of vaccination, health literacy, education, and communication in South America: A scientometric mapping

Vaccination-related challenges have become increasingly prominent worldwide, yet the temporal evolution and structural organization of the corresponding scientific literature in South America remain insufficiently characterized. This study aimed to systematically map and analyze the evolution of scientific production at the intersection of vaccination, health literacy, education, and communication in South America between 2015 and 2025, identifying temporal shifts, thematic structures, geographic asymmetries, and collaboration patterns including SARS-CoV-2 pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic phases. A systematic mapping analysis with an integrated scientometric approach was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies published between January 2015 and November 2025. After duplicate removal, 476 records were screened by two independent reviewers, and 80 studies were included for thematic and network analysis using VOSviewer. Scientific production expanded substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic and showed marked shifts in the prominence and co-occurrence of vaccination-related terms. Before 2020, research primarily focused on vaccination coverage, influenza immunization, and educational interventions. During the pandemic, the literature expanded and incorporated a broader range of terms related to COVID-19, fear, information and vaccine hesitancy. In the post-pandemic period, the research agenda showed renewed attention to childhood immunization, vaccination coverage and regional knowledge gaps. Scientific output remains geographically concentrated, particularly in Brazil, and collaboration networks display structural fragmentation. The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the mapped South American vaccination research landscape, expanding its thematic scope without overcoming geographic concentration or fragmented collaboration.