Supply: Annie Spratt anniespratt, CC0, by way of Wikimedia Commons

I discover it exhausting to consider that 10 years have handed for the reason that BugBitten weblog was born. Initiated by board members of Parasites & Vectors and hosted by the journal, a small group of enthusiastic volunteers and a BioMed Central employees member launched into the brand new expertise of writing blogs, with the target of publicising and discussing all facets of parasitology and vector biology.

Since then, a handful of bloggers (editors) repeatedly put together blogs on subjects we’re eager about, and assume will curiosity our neighborhood. Every week, one of many editors is assigned to test and edit the upcoming weblog. We additionally welcome visitor bloggers, a lot of whom have ultimately turn into editors.

How are we doing?

Taking inventory of the previous decade has offered some surprises. An examination of our statistics exhibits that we’re sustaining our purpose of publishing at the very least one weblog every week, with 23 posts to this point this yr, and 52 since September 2022.

On the time of writing, we’ve had a staggering 2,396,892 web page views since we started publishing blogs in September 2013, with readership rising steadily over time. All printed blogs stay out there to view on the BugBitten platform and views steadily will increase over time, from a mean of 4,000-5,000 through the first few months to over 10,000 just a few years later.

Our expectation is that our readers have, at the very least a restricted, data of biology, and vary from undergraduate college students to lecturers, analysis group leaders and different professionals. Nevertheless, some subjects have clearly caught the eye of most people. For instance, a weblog printed in 2019 and regarding jiggers, tiny fleas that burrow into human pores and skin, has crushed all others with 320,433 views to this point, and different human infections following shut behind.

Our beginnings

After an introductory weblog that includes the editors on the time, we first mentioned a technique to evaluate the impression of analysis, aside from counting citations.  Altmetric statistics are largely based mostly on social-media consideration versus citations. Influence is visualised as a multicoloured donut with a rating within the centre. On the time, the conclusion was that publications referring to parasitology or vector biology would obtain a really low rating, not as a result of the general public was bored with these subjects however as a result of the neighborhood weren’t utilizing strategies akin to twitter (now X) and Fb to speak their outcomes. Hopefully the BugBitten weblog and twitter feed have contributed in some small manner in the direction of addressing this concern.

Our protection

Since 2013, subjects coated by our blogs have ranged far and vast, reporting on latest analysis publications, well being and medical points related to infectious illnesses and options particular to the growing world.

Blogs regarding human parasites of all kinds have predominated with, unsurprisingly, malaria the one most coated (in varied guises from cell biology to epidemiology). Parasites of veterinary significance have usually appeared, however we’ve not forgotten a number of the fascinating organisms infecting wildlife. Many of those wildlife infections alter their host’s life historical past to boost their possibilities of transmission to the following host in methods that may solely be puzzled at. Although hardly ever the topic of funded analysis programmes, these tales have impressed a few of my college students to hunt a profession in parasitology or vector biology.

Bugs, arachnids, and snails that act as vectors of parasites have additionally been the main focus of many blogs with their life histories, behaviour and management or eradication mentioned.

Over the previous many years, we’ve given good protection to newly recognised issues. For instance we first blogged concerning the outbreak of Zika illness in January 2016, and coated this a number of instances within the following couple of years, with a return to this subject in 2022 when a visitor editor reported the identification of a brand new mosquito vector for this flavivirus.

Srimathy Sriskantharajah, the BioMed Central employees member who has been concerned as a blogger and facilitator for the reason that starting of BugBitten, says:

“One factor I’ve seen from studying the blogs is that they illustrate how parasitology is not only an ‘educational’ topic, it has actual world implications – whether or not it’s discussing a brand new malaria vaccine or bugs in our Christmas timber!”

In 2015, we first flagged local weather change as of concern for doubtlessly facilitating the unfold of parasitic illnesses into new areas. New tales with this theme have been coated since then, with elevated consideration within the final two years.

Views from our editors

Over the previous decade a number of editors have joined us for just a few years, then moved on to different issues, usually when altering careers. Their contributions have all been enormously valued. At the moment we’ve 6 volunteer editors and two from BioMed Central, three of whom have been contributing since 2013. Here’s what a few of them get pleasure from about BugBitten:

Krisztian Magori: It’s wonderful that we’ve been running a blog for a decade. BugBitten has offered me with an avenue to maintain updated on the present analysis in vector-borne illnesses. It began as a manner for me to place my title on the market and take part in public outreach. Now, I work at an establishment the place me and my college students are the one individuals engaged on vectors and vector-borne illnesses, so it has been good to be a part of the larger neighborhood, to not really feel so remoted. It additionally allowed me (and my college students) to share what we do in a extra relaxed and versatile manner in comparison with peer-reviewed publications. I’m excited to see the place it is going to go sooner or later, and I’m wanting ahead to studying future posts from all my co-editors.

Daniel Parsons: “Studying, writing, and enhancing BugBitten blogs over the past three years has been extremely fulfilling and rewarding, and has enabled me to maintain updated on developments and information within the wider discipline of parasitology and vector-borne illnesses throughout my PhD. Reading blogs from the opposite editors and writing my very own is at all times a spotlight, and it’s refreshing to do one thing a little bit completely different from my very own work every month.”

Tim Little: “I’m a brand new author and editor for the weblog, however I’ve each plan to proceed with contributing. If dinosaurs and funky documentaries on TV get children into science, then sci comms and writing is what pushes youngsters into pursuing it additional. At the least, that’s my expertise! Each bit is an opportunity to study one thing new, and hopefully assist different individuals become familiar with essential work. Now that I’m transferring away from infectious illness in my educational life, I hope BugBItten will hold me anchored to certainly one of my nice pursuits, not least due to the rising significance of such illnesses in a warming world.”

Anouk Gouvras: “I really like contributing to BugBitten as a result of it’s a collaborative, neighborhood weblog, written by and for fellow parasite and vector analysis lovers, from completely different disciplines, profession phases, organisations and nations. BugBitten offers me the chance to learn and write about new parasite and vector analysis exterior my space of experience and it’s a enjoyable and motivating technique to develop my science communication abilities.”

And my ideas

As a lecturer, certainly one of my passions was to share my fascination with the intriguing life histories of parasites, whereas as a analysis supervisor, I inspired my group to learn as broadly as doable, understanding that new concepts and approaches can come from far-removed fields. Initially my hope was that BugBitten blogs would obtain these goals by offering our readers with a weekly glimpse into new subjects that will inform, fascinate, and encourage them. I hope that the weblog is doing this and can proceed to take action.

If you want to contribute a visitor weblog to BugBitten please initially contact me at h.hurd@keele.ac.uk.