Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41087315›Full record

ArticleHuman vaccines & immunotherapeutics2025

A multi-disciplinary exploration of the press review of the Italian National Institute of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carlotta Fiammenghi, Elisabetta Ceretti, Loredana Covolo, Nicola Pelizzari, Mirella Anna Taranto, Luana Penna, Laura Brunelli, Silvio Brusaferro, Umberto Gelatti

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Carlotta FiammenghiDepartment of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Elisabetta CerettiDepartment of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Loredana CovoloDepartment of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Nicola PelizzariDepartment of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Mirella Anna TarantoPress Office, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
Luana PennaCNESPS, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
Laura BrunelliDepartment of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-5475-0021
Silvio BrusaferroDepartment of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
Umberto GelattiDepartment of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study examines how Italian national newspapers portrayed COVID-19 vaccines during 2020-2021. A corpus of 5,621 articles from seven newspapers, collected via the Italian National Institute of Health's daily press review, was analyzed with SketchEngine using corpus-assisted discourse methods. Quantitative analysis showed a rise in vaccine-related coverage at the end of 2020 and throughout 2021. Core terms such as vaccino (vaccine) and vaccinazione (vaccination) were frequent, while occasional use of synonyms like serum and antidote risked creating confusion. Qualitative analysis revealed instances of "false balance," where anti-vaccine views were presented alongside pro-vaccine perspectives as if equally supported by evidence. These findings suggest that even authoritative outlets reproduced reporting practices that may undermine public understanding of vaccines. Greater awareness of such practices, and closer collaboration between health professionals and communication experts, could help improve the quality of health information in the media.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesNewspapers as TopicVaccinationHumansItalyPandemicsSARS-CoV-2COVID-19 Vaccinescorpus-assisted discourse analysisCOVID-19 vaccinationmixed-methodsnewspaper discoursepublic health

Identifiers

PMID41087315
PMCPMC12530487

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.