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"Identification of a novel
coronavirus in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome,"
by Christian
Drosten and 25 others, New England Journal of Medicine, 348(20):
1967-76, 15 May 2003.
[Authors' affiliations: National Reference
Center for Tropical Diseases, Hamburg, Germany; Johann Wolfgang
Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany; Phillips University, Marburg, Germany;
Pasteur Institute, Paris, France;
Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Abstract: "Background
The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has recently been identified as a
new
clinical entity. SARS is thought to be caused by an unknown infectious agent. Methods
Clinical specimens from
patients with SARS were searched for unknown viruses with the use of cell
cultures and molecular techniques.
Results A novel coronavirus was identified in patients with SARS. The
virus was isolated in cell culture, and a
sequence 300 nucleotides in length was obtained by a polymerase-chain-reaction
(PCR)-based random-amplification
procedure. Genetic characterization indicated that the virus is only distantly
related to known coronaviruses (identical in 50 to 60 percent of the
nucleotide sequence). On the basis of the obtained sequence, conventional and
real-time PCR assays for specific and sensitive detection of the novel virus
were established. Virus was detected in a variety of clinical specimens from
patients with SARS but not in controls. High concentrations of viral RNA of up
to 100 million molecules per milliliter were found in sputum. Viral RNA was
also detected at extremely low concentrations in plasma during the acute phase
and in feces during the late convalescent phase. Infected patients showed
seroconversion on the Vero cells in which the virus was isolated. Conclusions
The novel coronavirus might have a role in causing SARS."
This 2003 report from the New England
Journal of Medicine was cited 48 times in current journal
articles processed by Thomson Scientific during September-October 2004. Only
one other non-review paper in medicine published in the last two years
received a greater number of citations during that two-month period.
(Medicine's most-cited paper for September-October, in fact, happened to be
another SARS report from the same 15 May 2003 NEJM issue; in all, three
SARS papers from this issue currently occupy the Top Ten in Medicine, joined
on the list by two other SARS reports from other publications.) Prior to the
most recent bimonthly count, citations to Drosten et al. have accrued
as follows:
July-August 2004: 49 citations
May-June 2004: 51
March-April 2004: 58
January-February 2004: 70
November-December 2003: 34
September-October 2003: 40
July-August 2003: 25
May-June 2003: 5
Total Citations to date: 380
SOURCE: Hot
Papers Database (Included with a subscription to the ISI print newsletter Science
Watch®, available from the ISI
Research Services Group. Packaged on a CD-ROM that is mailed with each Science
Watch issue, the Hot
Papers Database contains data on hundreds of highly cited papers published
during the last two years. User interface permits searching by author,
organization, journal, field, and more. Total citations, as well as citations
accrued during successive bimonthly periods, can be assessed and graphed. An
updated CD containing the most recent bimonthly data is mailed with every new
issue of Science
Watch,
six times a year. The CD also includes an electronic version of the Science
Watch
issue in HTML format, for personal desktop access.)
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