[Brazilian biomedical publications in the international scientific literature. Endemic communicable diseases].

The number of Brazilian periodicals listed in the Index Medicus dropped from 70 in 1964 to 15 in 1983, or 78%, while the total number of listed periodicals from other countries fell only 11%. The total number of articles published in Brazil on Chagas' disease, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, malaria, and filariasis, and listed in the Index Medicus did not change significantly between 1965 and 1982, because, with the exception of the journal O Hospital, the Brazilian periodicals that published 74% of all articles on those diseases remained listed throughout the period considered. The predominant subjects in articles on endemic diseases were Chagas' disease and schistosomiasis, and in the later years there was a tendency to index more articles on basic than on applied research. The number of articles on Chagas' disease published by Brazilian authors directly in foreign journals increased considerably during the latter decade. Analysis of all the data together suggests that the developed countries select a specific portion of the Brazilian output of biomedical literature--which is kept listed in secondary and international publications or published directly in foreign journals--while another portion of the same output gradually loses visibility on the international scene.