key: cord-0078766-15zwhs5z
authors: DAO, THI LOI; TO, MINH MANH; NGUYEN, THE DIEP; HOANG, VAN THUAN
title: Mapping COVID-19 related research from Vietnam: a scoping review
date: 2022-04-26
journal: J Prev Med Hyg
DOI: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2022.63.1.1720
sha: 202e38fbb0b30af87275d56822935165fc2d1fef
doc_id: 78766
cord_uid: 15zwhs5z

INTRODUCTION: The situation of COVID-19 pandemic is becoming more complex. The research institutes should focus on the most important challenge related to this outbreak at the national level. We aim to realize this scoping review to map publications on COVID-19 in Vietnam in order to guide research priorities and policies in the country. METHODS: This study was conducted at the Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, from May to August 2020, according to the guidance for conducting systematic scoping review. RESULTS: A total of 72 studies met the inclusion criteria. The most frequent publications were original articles (27.8%), followed by letter to editor/correspondence (26.4%). According to the research priorities for COVID-19 set by the WHO, 41.7% studies focused on control and prevention of COVID-19, but none of studies on personal protective equipment or protocol for healthcare workers’ safety were conducted. 12.5% studies carried out a thorough investigation into epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. Virology and genomics, natural history of the virus and its transmission in Vietnam were described by 18.1% papers. Only one study was conducted in terms of development for candidate therapeutics. CONCLUSION: We call for national investigation on treatment against SARS-CoV-2 and protocol for medical staff protection. The government and academic institutions should work in collaboration with international stakeholders, including the WHO, to combat together the COVID-19.

In December 2020, the first case of an emerging respiratory infectious disease (COVID- 19) due to a novel coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2 was reported in Wuhan, China [1] . This outbreak is highly contagious with the reproduction number R (R0) of SARS-CoV-2 which is estimated up to 3.5 [2] [3] [4] . In addition, this can be transmitted directly between humans via droplet, close contact with infected persons and indirect contact with contaminated surfaces or objects [1] . The outbreak has quickly spread out of China and affected the whole world. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that it was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020, and then a pandemic on March 11, 2020 [1] . At the time of writing, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected 213 countries worldwide with 767,346 deaths and 21,564,286 confirmed cases [5] . The situation of pandemic is becoming more complex, and it is increasingly difficult to control diseases in order to reduce both morbidity and mortality rate. The outbreak has overwhelmed most countries in the world, even in high-income countries with modern, advanced medical system. Vietnam is a neighboring country of China with an approximately 1500 km of common border; therefore, the country faces a high risk of a severe COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Vietnam is middle-income country and has a population density of nearly 100 million people, so this raises more challenges in fighting the outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Vietnam on January 23, 2020 with the two first cases [6] . As of August 15, 2020, The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 950 confirmed cases (447 recovered) and 23 deaths [7] . The COVID-19 has caused a complex emergency. The lockdown has seriously affected the domestic economy and the morale as well as quality of life of its citizens. The academic institutions must be primarily responsible for investigating this pandemic from a holistic perspective, including the distribution of asymmetric severity, morbidity, mortality and spread among different geographical areas. Especially in the context of low-and middle-income countries with limited human and economic resources, it is needed to avoid duplication of research topics. However, the research institutes should focus on the most important challenge related to COVID-19 pandemic at the national level. We aim to realize this scoping review to map publications on COVID-19 in Vietnam in order to guide research priorities and policies in the country.

We realized our scoping review according to the guidance for conducting systematic scoping review proposed by Peters et al. [8] . Development and reporting were followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews [9] .

We mapped the literature by 5 key steps: i). we identified the research question, then ii). we identified the literature relevant to COVID-19 in Vietnam and iii). We selected only those studies; iv) the data from the articles, including population type, participation of foreign experts, multinational study, hospital affiliation, studied topics and research priorities for COVID-19 set by the WHO were thereafter collected and summarized; v). Finally, we reported the results. The study was conducted at the Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, from May to August 2020. This scoping review was guided by the following questions: "What type of research on COVID-19 was carried out by Vietnamese institutions? What aspects of this pandemic and its impact were investigated in Vietnam?"

The following databases were investigated in all relevant studies published on: PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pubmed), Web of Science (http://webofknowledge. com) and Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/). The most recent search was conducted on July 31, 2020. The topic search terms used for searching the databases were the following: #1: "COVID-19" OR "COVID19" OR "SARS-CoV-2" OR "nCoV" #2: "Vietnam" OR "Viet Nam" #3: #1 AND #2 No language, type of article or date of publication restrictions were applied. Search criteria were developed to capture articles relevant to research regarding COVID-19 pandemic from Vietnamese institutions. The studies which were not conducted in Vietnam and/or not related to COVID-19 were excluded. Duplicate citations were initially removed in Zotero. All studies related to COVID-19 which were realized in the Vietnamese institutions, and authored by a Vietnamese researcher or a non-Vietnamese researcher were eligible for inclusion. Published and accepted articles in press that were already published online, or preprints were also included. Two researchers (TLD and VTH) independently performed the screening of the articles. Any discordant result was resolved by agreement. In case of dispute, a third reviewer (MMT or TDN) was consulted for the decision. Reference lists of selected articles were screened to identify studies that might have been missing from the research. After the abstracts had been screened, the full texts of the articles were assessed for eligibility by the same two researchers and selected or rejected for inclusion in the systematic review. Included publications were abstracted and summarized in Microsoft Excel 2016 using the following items: title, authors, name of the Vietnamese institutions involved in the study, time of publication (month and year), type of study (Original article, review, short communication, letter to editor/correspondence, perspective, commentary, editorial, preprint), studied topics, national or collaborative international, name of the countries in case of multinational studies and funding.

The initial search provided 256 papers. Of which 161 duplicate were deleted. After being screened by authors, 23 records were excluded because they did not meet the eligibility following criteria: research not conducted in Vietnam (19) and research not related to COVID-19 but mentioned COVID-19 in their abstract or in the text (4) . Finally, 72 studies met the inclusion criteria [6, . Figure 1 shows the research strategy according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram. 

According to the research priorities for COVID-19 set by the WHO [81] , a total of 30/72 (41.7%) studies focused on control and prevention of COVID-19 but no study on personal protective equipment or protocol for healthcare worker safe was conducted. Nine (12.5%) studies carried out a thorough investigation into epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. Thirteen (18.1%) studied the virology and genomics, natural history of the virus and its transmission in Vietnam. The clinicopathological features of COVID-19 were described by 8 papers (11.1%). Two studies (one original article and one review) concentrated on the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (Tab. II).

Until now, Vietnam has reported three waves of COVID-19 outbreaks. After each wave, the pandemic is increasingly completed, and the new cases are on the increase [7] . Particularly, in the third outbreak which started on July 26, 2020, the rate of spread of this disease is higher than before. A total of 476 autochthonous cases within 3 weeks were recorded (50.1% of all cumulative cases in the country from nearly 7 months), including medical staff. Furthermore, 23 deaths were recorded in this time [7] . Especially, the source of infection in the community has not been determined. Studies on epidemiology, transmission, preventive measures, and treatment strategies are essential to reduce morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. Especially in poor countries, with limited financial capacity, it is necessary to identify priority studies according to each period of pandemic in the national level. Our review is useful in the actual context of COVID-19 in Vietnam for fund allocation from the government to support health care and related research. We identified 72 articles, including 12 preprints conducting on the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Unfortunately, the current published research on COVID-19 in Vietnam seems to be discordant from the epidemic research priorities set by the WHO. This is possible that some of projects are still ongoing and have not been captured in this review, but the current publications do not provide a strong preparation for the country to neither adequately tackle the pandemic nor to accumulate experience for prevention of other outbreaks in the future. The research gap related to COVID-19 identified by the WHO are: i) natural history of SARS-CoV-2, its transmission and diagnosis; ii) animal and environmental research on the origin of the virus; iii) epidemiological studies; iv) clinical characterization and management of COVID-19; v) infection prevention and control, including health care workers protection; vi) research and development for candidate vaccines and treatment; vii) ethical considerations for research; and viii) integration of social sciences into the outbreak response [81] . These points should be utilized for focusing the topic and planning future research steps in Vietnam. Most of the included studies in this scoping review were letter to editor and focused on control and prevention aspect. It is important because multiple effective measures have been applied to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam such as: early lockdown, a strong political commitment and prompt actions with a multi-sectoral response plan, blanket media coverage of COVID-19 prevention, intensive surveillance, case management and large-scale health quarantine not only for patients, but also for persons in close contact with cases [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] . But these articles were narrative and described on experiences and reported views and experimental studies remain limited. Moreover, since the SARS-CoV-2 virus is highly contagious [2] [3] [4] , safety for all healthcare workers must be ensured to protect themselves and to prevent nosocomial transmission. In fact, several medical staff in Vietnamese health facilities such as Bach Mai and Da Nang hospitals were infected by SARS-CoV-2 [7] . Isolation of infected health workers and colleagues 

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

No funding. 

Rolling updates on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

Olympic Games Tokyo: Safety Issues and Protection against COVID-19 Transmission

Estimation of exponential growth rate and basic reproduction number of the coronavirus disease

Transmission route and introduction of pandemic SARS-CoV-2 between China, Italy, and Spain

COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

Importation and Human-to-Human Transmission of a Novel Coronavirus in Vietnam

General information for quick response of national steering committee for epidemic COVID-19 prevention

Guidance for conducting systematic scoping reviews

Controlling the COVID-19 Pandemic in Vietnam: Lessons From a Limited Resource Country

Vietnam's response to COVID-19: prompt and proactive actions

Vietnam's Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak

An adaptive model of health system organization and responses helped Vietnam to successfully halt the COVID-19 pandemic: What lessons can be learned from a resource-constrained country

Combating the COVID-19 Epidemic: Experiences from Vietnam

Controlling the COVID-19 pandemic: Useful lessons from Vietnam

Coverage of Health Information by Different Sources in Communities: Implication for COVID-19 Epidemic Response

From First COVID-19 Case to Current Outbreak: A Vietnamese Report

Modelling the impact of control measures against the COVID-19 pandemic in Viet Nam

Policy response, social media and science journalism for the sustainability of the public health system amid the COVID-19 outbreak: The vietnam lessons

Preventive behavior of Vietnamese people in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Proactive and Comprehensive Community Health Actions to Fight the COVID-19 Epidemic: Initial Lessons from Vietnam

Summary of the COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam -Lessons and suggestions

The COVID-19 containment in Vietnam: What are we doing?

The COVID-19 Pandemic: A View From Vietnam

Adapting a TB contact investigation strategy for COVID-19

An epidemiologic profile of COVID-19 patients in Vietnam

An open toolbox for generating map of actively confirmed SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 cases in Vietnam

Asymptomatic and Presymptomatic Transmission of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection: An Estimation from a Cluster of Confirmed Cases

Capacity of local authority and community on epidemic response in Vietnam: Implication for COVID-19 preparedness

Characterize health and economic vulnerabilities of workers to control the emergence of COVID-19 in an industrial zone in Vietnam

Clinical features, isolation, and complete genome sequence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 from the first two patients in Vietnam

Comparing public policy implementation in Taiwan and Vietnam in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak: a review

Comparison of epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Vietnam

Coronavirus Infection Prevention by Wearing Masks

Coronaviruses pandemics: Can neutralizing antibodies help?

COVID-19 Dispatches from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

COVID-19 in Vietnam: A lesson of pre-preparation

COVID-19 in Vietnam: What Happened in the Stock Market?

COVID-19 misinformation and the social (media) amplification of risk: A Vietnamese perspective

COVID-19 Risk Perception and Food Hoarding Intention: Evidence from Vietnam

COVID-19: Experience from Vietnam Medical Students

Demand for Health Information on COVID-19 among Vietnamese

Describing the pattern of the COVID-19 epidemic in Vietnam

Duration of viral detection in throat and rectum of a patient with

Early Estimation Of Reproduction Number of COVID-19 in Vietnam

Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients in Vietnam and a Description of Disease Control and Prevention Measures

Estimation of the incubation period of SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam

Evaluation of the Inhibitory Activities of COVID-19 of Melaleuca cajuputi Oil Using Docking Simulation

Factors associated with the duration of hospitalisation among COVID-19 patients in Vietnam: A survival analysis

Fear of COVID-19 Scale-Associations of Its Scores with Health Literacy and Health-Related Behaviors among Medical Students

Chi Minh City-the front line against COVID-19 in Vietnam

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic upon mental health: Perspectives from Vietnam

Income security during public health emergencies: the COVID-19 poverty trap in Vietnam

Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital

Management of mild cases of COVID-19 in low-resource countries: An experience in Vietnam

Mobilizing the police from the top down as public health partners in combatting COVID-19: A perspective from Vietnam

Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions in COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Online Book Shopping in Vietnam: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Situation

Outbreak investigation for COVID-19 in northern Vietnam

People with Suspected COVID-19 Symptoms Were More Likely Depressed and Had Lower Health-Related Quality of Life: The Potential Benefit of Health Literacy

Inchingolo F. Rapid and sensitive diagnostic procedure for multiple detection of pandemic Coronaviridae family members SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and HCoV: a translational research and cooperation between the Phan Chau Trinh University in Vietnam and University of Bari "Aldo Moro" in Italy

Reaching further by Village Health Collaborators: The informal health taskforce of Vietnam for COVID-19 responses

N; for OU-CRU COVID-19 research group. SARS-CoV-2 and co-infections detection in nasopharyngeal throat swabs of COVID-19 patients by metagenomics

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Shedding by Travelers

Social Responses for Older People in COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from Vietnam

Studies of Novel Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Global Analysis of Literature

The COVID-19 pandemic in the ASEAN: A preliminary report on the spread, burden and medical capacities

The COVID-19 risk perception: A survey on socioeconomics and media attention

The first infant case of COVID-19 acquired from a secondary transmission in Vietnam

The first Vietnamese case of COVID-19 acquired from China

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on thyroid surgery in Vietnam

The largest epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam

OUCRU COVID-19 research group. The natural history and transmission potential of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

The operational readiness capacities of the grassroots health system in responses to epidemics: Implications for COVID-19 control in Vietnam

Toward Sustainable Learning during School Suspension: Socioeconomic, Occupational Aspirations, and Learning Behavior of Vietnamese Students during COVID-19

Treatment for COVID-19 patients in Vietnam: Analysis of time-to-recovery

Turning Vietnam's COVID-19 Success into Economic Recovery: A Job-Focused Analysis of Individual Assessments on Their Finance and the Economy. GLO Discussion Paper

Vietnamese Public Health Practices in the Advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for Developing Countries

Whole-genome sequencing and de novo assembly of a 2019 novel coronavirus (sars-cov-2) strain isolated in vietnam

Work-related COVID-19 transmission in six Asian countries/areas: A follow-up study

World Health Organization. World experts and funders set priorities for COVID-19 research

Lesson Learned from China Regarding Use of Personal Protective Equipment

We thank to medical staff of Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam for their support in data collection.Tab. I. General characteristics of 72 included papers.

Number of papers Percentage