This study presents a systematic scientometric mapping of the scientific literature addressing the intersection of vaccination, health literacy, education, and communication in South America. The authors aimed to characterize temporal evolution, thematic structure, geographic asymmetries, and collaboration patterns across three phases: pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic. The analysis sought to identify how the SARS‑CoV‑2 pandemic influenced topic prominence and research networks within the region.
A systematic mapping analysis was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Comprehensive searches of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were performed for publications dated between January 2015 and November 2025. After removing duplicates, 476 records were screened by two independent reviewers. From that screening, 80 studies met inclusion criteria and were selected for further thematic and network analyses. The authors used VOSviewer to map co-occurrence patterns, thematic clusters, and collaboration networks across the included records.
The scientometric analysis identified clear temporal shifts in research focus across the examined decade. Prior to 2020, the literature in South America predominantly addressed topics such as vaccination coverage, influenza immunization, and educational interventions aimed at improving vaccine uptake. During the COVID-19 pandemic period the volume of scientific production increased substantially and the composition of indexed terms shifted to reflect pandemic-related concerns. In the post-pandemic period the mapped literature exhibited renewed attention to childhood immunization, vaccination coverage, and persistent regional knowledge gaps.
During the pandemic the thematic scope broadened to incorporate a wider array of concepts directly tied to SARS‑CoV‑2 and its social and informational consequences. The authors report increased co-occurrence of terms related to COVID‑19, fear, information, and vaccine hesitancy. This expansion reflects an integration of pandemic-specific content into existing vaccination, health literacy, education, and communication research streams. After the pandemic phase, some pandemic-specific topics receded while traditional public health priorities—such as childhood immunization and coverage metrics—re-emerged on the agenda.
The mapped scientific output showed geographic concentration, with a particularly strong contribution from Brazil. Despite the growth in thematic breadth during the pandemic, collaboration networks across the region retained structural fragmentation. The authors describe asymmetries in both production and collaborative ties, indicating that increased volume of pandemic-era publications did not translate into a more evenly distributed or more integrated regional research network.
Key findings include the substantial expansion of vaccination-related scientific production during the COVID‑19 pandemic and a marked shift in topical prominence toward pandemic-related themes such as COVID‑19, information dynamics, fear, and vaccine hesitancy. Nevertheless, the post-pandemic research agenda returned attention to pre-existing public health priorities like childhood immunization and vaccination coverage. Geographic concentration of output—most notably in Brazil—and persistent fragmentation of collaboration networks suggest ongoing limits to regional research integration. These observations imply that while the pandemic stimulated broader thematic inquiry, systemic disparities in research capacity and network cohesion across South America remain unaddressed.
The abstract reports the methods, main results, and conclusions but does not provide detailed listings of the 80 included studies, the specific inclusion/exclusion criteria beyond dates and databases, or quantitative measures of network fragmentation in the abstract text. The source notes that the authors declared no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work. The report provides bibliographic identifiers: PubMed PMID 42551401 and DOI 10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128986.
Between 2015 and 2025, scientometric mapping of vaccination, health literacy, education, and communication research in South America reveals that the COVID‑19 pandemic catalyzed growth and thematic expansion in the literature. The pandemic introduced and amplified topics related to COVID‑19 and vaccine hesitancy, but did not overcome pre-existing geographic concentration—particularly Brazil’s prominence—nor resolve fragmented collaborative structures. Post‑pandemic research shows a partial reversion to traditional public health priorities such as childhood immunization and coverage, while highlighting persistent regional knowledge gaps that may require targeted policy and capacity-building efforts.