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Analysis of institutional authors

Rubio-Guerri CAuthor

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May 19, 2022
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Pilot Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 Variants in the Island of Sicily Prior to and in the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Publicated to:Frontiers In Microbiology. 13 869559-869559 - 2022-04-26 13(), DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.869559

Authors: Padilla-Blanco, Miguel; Gucciardi, Francesca; Guercio, Annalisa; Rubio, Vicente; Princiotta, Antonina; Veses, Veronica; Terrana, Mariangela; Sheth, Chirag C; Pascual-Ortiz, Marina; Maiques, Elisa; Purpari, Giuseppa; Rubio-Guerri, Consuelo

Affiliations

- Author
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Valencia, Spain. - Author
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Valencia, Spain. - Author
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Valencia, Spain. - Author
Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV-CSIC), CIBER of Rare Diseases (CIBERER-ISCIII), Valencia, Spain. - Author
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia "A. Mirri", Palermo, Italy. - Author
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Abstract

After 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to face vital challenges stemming from SARS-CoV-2 variation, causing changes in disease transmission and severity, viral adaptation to animal hosts, and antibody/vaccine evasion. Since the monitoring, characterization, and cataloging of viral variants are important and the existing information on this was scant for Sicily, this pilot study explored viral variants circulation on this island before and in the growth phase of the second wave of COVID-19 (September and October 2020), and in the downslope of that wave (early December 2020) through sequence analysis of 54 SARS-CoV-2-positive samples. The samples were nasopharyngeal swabs collected from Sicilian residents by a state-run one-health surveillance laboratory in Palermo. Variant characterization was based on RT-PCR amplification and sequencing of four regions of the viral genome. The B.1.177 variant was the most prevalent one, strongly predominating before the second wave and also as the wave downsized, although its relative prevalence decreased as other viral variants, particularly B.1.160, contributed to virus circulation. The occurrence of the B.1.160 variant may have been driven by the spread of that variant in continental Europe and by the relaxation of travel restrictions in the summer of 2020. No novel variants were identified. As sequencing of the entire viral genome in Sicily for the period covered here was restricted to seven deposited viral genome sequences, our results shed some light on SARS-CoV-2 variant circulation during that wave in this insular region of Italy which combines its partial insular isolation with being a major entry point for the African immigration.Copyright © 2022 Padilla-Blanco, Gucciardi, Guercio, Rubio, Princiotta, Veses, Terrana, Sheth, Pascual-Ortiz, Maiques, Purpari and Rubio-Guerri.

Keywords

1160 variant177 variantbb.1.160 variantb.1.177 variantcovid-19 in autumn 2020sars-cov-2sicily (italy)B.1.160 variantB.1.177 variantCovid-19 in autumn 2020Sars-cov-2Sicily (italy)

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Microbiology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Microbiology (Medical).

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-08-02:

  • WoS: 3
  • Scopus: 3
  • Europe PMC: 3

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 5.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 5 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.6.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 4 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Italy.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Rubio Guerri, Consuelo).