The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus is a controlled and hierarchically-organized vocabulary produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It is used for indexing, cataloging, and searching of biomedical and health-related information. MeSH includes the subject headings appearing in MEDLINE/PubMed, the NLM Catalog, and other NLM databases.

The NLM has released its annual list of MeSH changes, including highly anticipated NEW MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) terms for 2022!

The list covers a variety of changes and updates made to MeSH, including:

• Updated terms — these are MeSH terms that have been deleted, changed, or replaced to reflect more updated terminology
  • 24 terms were updated for 2022
• New terms — these are brand new MeSH terms added
  • 277 new MeSH Descriptors were added for 2022
  • 218 new Supplementary Concepts were added for 2022

New Covid-19-related MeSH Headings:

• 2019-nCoV Vaccine mRNA-1273
• BNT162 Vaccine
• Ad26COVS1
• ChAdOx1 nCoV-19
• Persistent Infection
• mRNA Vaccines
• Aerosolized Particles and Droplets
• Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets
• Adjuvants, Vaccine
• Nucleic Acid-Based Vaccines
• Vaccine Development
• Vaccine Efficacy
• Antigenic Drift and Shift
• Mass Gatherings
• Vaccination Hesitancy
• Thromboinflammation

New Cancer-related MeSH Headings:

• Immunomodulating Agents
• Interleukin Inhibitors
• MTOR Inhibitors
• Memory T Cells
• Memory B Cells
• Radiation Fibrosis Syndrome

Note: The MeSH Browser can be used to conduct in-depth searches of the vocabulary within MeSH, whereas the MeSH Database is a mapping tool within PubMed to quickly locate terms and add them to search strategies.