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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1545678
A Systematic Review of Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) Research: Bibliometric and Topic Modeling Perspectives
Provisionally accepted
Tian Tian 1
Hui Han 2* Zhi-Hui Guan 1
Ke Zhang 1 Xinghe Huang 3 Wenyue Wang 1 Xuan Zhang 1
Fei Zhang 1
Leijia Wei 1
Xin Zhang 1*
Jia-He Wang 1*- 1 China Medical University, Shenyang, China
- 2 Science and Technology Research Center of China Customs, Beijing, China
- 3 China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Background/Objective: Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) is an emerging global health threat, exhibiting increased virulence and multidrug resistance compared to classic K. pneu-moniae. Understanding the research landscape surrounding hvKP is crucial for developing ef-fective control strategies. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the global research trends in hvKP from 2013 to 2024 using bibliometric and topic modeling techniques. Methods: Data from 1014 articles on hvKP, retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, were analyzed using Bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer to assess publication trends, col-laborations, geographical distribution, and keyword co-occurrence. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling was employed to identify key research themes. Results: The analysis revealed a steadily increasing volume of hvKP research, with China and the United States as major contributors. Four primary research themes emerged: high viru-lence phenotypes and mechanisms; drug resistance and treatment strategies; genetic and mo-lecular mechanisms; and epidemiological and transmission characteristics. Research hotspots included virulence mechanisms, drug resistance, genomic detection approaches, and epidemiological features. Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of hvKP research, highlighting key trends and research gaps. The identified research hotspots inform future re-search directions and contribute to the development of effective strategies for combating hvKP infections.The increasing research volume underscores the urgent need for continued inves-tigation into this significant public health threat.
Keywords: hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP), Klebsiella pneumonia, Hypervirulence, antimicrobial resistance, Bibliometrics, Topic Modeling, Epidemiological characteristics
Received: 15 Dec 2024; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tian, Han, Guan, Zhang, Huang, Wang, Zhang, Zhang, Wei, Zhang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hui Han, Science and Technology Research Center of China Customs, Beijing, China
Xin Zhang, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
Jia-He Wang, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.