Many top tier science journals are going into overdrive to publish data about the emerging swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus epidemic, compressing what is often a multi-month process into just a few days or weeks.
An international research team led by
Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London published a
report online today (May 11) in
Science showing that the current outbreak is on par or less hazardous than previous influenza pandemics. The researchers analyzed data from late April and found that the virus' transmission rate and clinical severity are not as bad as seen during the 1918 Spanish flu but are similar to other 20th century pandemics. Although the study was received and published in less than a week, "the paper was subjected to usual standards during the rigorous review process,"
Natasha Pinol, a
Science spokesperson, said in an email.
Last Thursday (May 7), a team of epidemiologists from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a
study in the
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) chronicling all 642 reported cases of human infection with the virus dating from April 15 to May 5. This analysis detailed the most common symptoms of the disease and showed that young people might be particularly susceptible to infection. "We knew this was important and we wanted to get it out,"
Edward Campion, NEJM's senior deputy editor and online editor, told
The Scientist. The paper underwent a full peer review process, but each review "was compressed into a day or two."
Campion noted that the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) prepared
NEJM for the latest epidemic. This time around, the journal could respond even quicker, though, because its updated electronic review system streamlined and accelerated the publication pipeline. "The limiting factor is the human effort," he noted.
NEJM editors "worked overtime, evening and weekends" to get the paper ready for publication. "It's a very demanding process, and something we save for those few times a year when we really need it," he said.
The open access publisher
BioMed Central (BMC) -- which will be publishing many original articles, commentaries, editorials and mini-reviews relating to the latest H1N1 virus within the coming weeks -- is "working hard to process all flu-related manuscripts as rapidly as we can," said
Melissa Norton, BMC's editorial director of Medicine. Reviewers, editors, and authors alike are asked to handle manuscripts in an expedited fashion, which allows papers to be published within "a matter of weeks," she said.
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