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Molecular Diagnostics for WHO Priority Bacterial Pathogens: A Bibliometric Mapping of Diagnostic Platforms, Resistance Markers, and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Trends.

Selahattin Ünlü
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Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constrains effective treatment and carries implications for infection control, surveillance, and public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) priority bacterial pathogen framework has intensified the need for diagnostic innovation by redefining research priorities around organisms combining high disease burden with complex resistance profiles. Molecular diagnostics have accordingly moved beyond culture-based workflows, integrating rapid pathogen identification, resistance-marker detection, genomic surveillance, and clinical decision support. The present study conducted a bibliometric mapping of the literature on WHO priority pathogens. Rather than addressing resistance at a general level or a single pathogen or technology, it integrates priority pathogens, molecular platforms, and resistance markers within a single framework, tracing their joint thematic and temporal evolution along an explicit pathogen-platform-marker axis. Scopus-indexed articles and reviews (2000-2025) were retrieved, yielding 1746 publications after screening adapted from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Analyses used Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny, R, and VOSviewer. The literature expanded markedly after 2018, led by China and the United States. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Enterococcus faecium, and the Enterobacterales-carbapenemase axis constituted the principal thematic cores, whereas conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) and whole-genome sequencing were the dominant platforms. Overall, the field has evolved from pathogen detection into an AMR-centered translational domain encompassing resistance prediction, genomic epidemiology, surveillance, and clinical decision support. Diagnostic development, stewardship, and surveillance depend on hybrid workflows coupling rapid marker-targeted assays with genome-based characterization, delivering actionable resistance within clinically meaningful timeframes, and extending coverage to underrepresented pathogens and platforms.

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HumansDrug Resistance, BacterialMolecular Diagnostic TechniquesBacteriaWorld Health OrganizationBibliometricsBacterial InfectionsPathology, MolecularAnti-Bacterial AgentsWHO priority pathogensantimicrobial resistancebibliometricsmolecular diagnosticsresistance markerswhole‐genome sequencingJournal ArticleReview

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Selahattin Ünlü. 2026. Molecular Diagnostics for WHO Priority Bacterial Pathogens: A Bibliometric Mapping of Diagnostic Platforms, Resistance Markers, and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Trends.. https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.70394

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Journal Article; Review resourceAnti-Bacterial Agents subjectAntimicrobial resistance subjectBacteria subjectBibliometrics subjectDrug Resistance, Bacterial subjectHumans subjectJournal Article subject

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