Re-emergence of Established Pathogens in the 21st Century

Re-emergence of Established Pathogens in the 21st Century
by I.W. Fong (Editor), Karl Drlica (Editor)

Product Details:
* Hardcover: 312 pages
* Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (June 2003)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0306475006

Book Description:
This volume, compiled by two of the leading experts in the field, provides the specialist and trainee in microbiology, infectious disease, infection control, and epidemiology with a concise, timely and authoritative review of some of the most problematic infections of the new century. This volume will foster a better understanding of the issues and new ideas for preventing and controlling infectious disease.
The steady and often alarming rate at which new and reemerging pathogens are appearing is well recognized. The past year alone saw a global epidemic caused by a previously unrecognized coronavirus, the first outbreak of monkeypox in the Western Hemisphere, the continued spread of West Nile virus across North America, the detection of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, outbreaks of deadly H5N1 avian influenza with transmission to humans in Asia, and the first U.S. outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in 20 years. Adding to the concern caused by these events is the increasing emergence of antimicrobial resistance in community and health care settings. This topic is the principal focus of Reemergence of Established Pathogens in the 21st Century, the third volume in the series Emerging Infectious Diseases of the 21st Century. The book contains nine authoritative chapters by 21 authors from North America and Europe, many of whom are internationally recognized experts on their topics. The chapters are organized into three sections that are titled "The Changing Spectrum of Bacterial Infections," "Resistant Bacteria and Resurgence," and "Resistant Parasitic Infections." The two initial chapters focus on severe invasive group A streptococcal infections and the broad array of zoonotic bartonella infections recognized in recent years (e.g., cat scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, and peliosis hepatis). Other chapters discuss important drug-resistant infections in the community (e.g., leading global killers such as pneumococcal disease, tuberculosis, and malaria) -- a crisis in many impoverished countries -- and drug-resistant infections in health care settings (e.g., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae). In addition to providing a helpful historical context for the problem, each chapter contains information on the epidemiology and microbiology of the infection (including considerable detail on mechanisms of resistance), along with information on clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies. Most chapters end with a brief discussion of factors contributing to the disease's emergence or reemergence as well as priorities for research. Each chapter is well documented, with extensive references through early 2002. One chapter contains a provocative discussion of an approach to controlling antimicrobial resistance on the basis of the "mutant selection window" hypothesis and possible approaches to reducing the risk of mutant enrichment. Overall, the chapters provide important information to the intended target audience of specialists and trainees in microbiology, infectious diseases, infection control, and epidemiology. The book makes good use of tables and figures to convey important information clearly. In addition, some of the diagrams of pathogenetic and resistance mechanisms are particularly helpful. The use of color in the histopathological images in the chapter on bartonella would have added value; however, the price of the book is already somewhat high. The problem of emerging microbial infections and the urgent need to address these threats were brought to the forefront of public health in a 1992 report by the Institute of Medicine and were the subject of a 2003 update to this report entitled Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response. This book reinforces the findings in those two reports and reminds the reader of the many factors in contemporary society that favor the continued emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases. The authors highlight the need to refocus the efforts of the clinical, research, and public health communities to improve disease surveillance and develop sensitive, specific, and rapid diagnostic tests, as well as to prescribe antimicrobial agents judiciously and continue work to develop the next generation of vaccines and antimicrobial agents.

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Antigenic Variation

Antigenic Variation
by Alister G. Craig (Editor), Artur Scherf (Editor)

Product Details:
* Hardcover: 464 pages
* Publisher: Academic Press (September 24, 2003)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 012194851X

Book Description
The topic of antigenic variation is important in both biology and medicine. It is of enormous interest, as it describes the process(es) whereby microorganisms 'shift shape', by genetic rearrangement or otherwise. In medical terms, this has a major impact on the infectious disease process, since the immune system has great difficulty in keeping up with this variation, and thus eliminating the infectious agent. Antigenic variation is a major method by which microbes evade the immune response, and persist in the body.
The broad scope of the book appeals to all those working in the field of infectious disease, immunology of infection, pathogenesis, molecular biology and also to evolutionary biologists. Topics covered include not only bacterial species, and viruses such as influenza, HIV, Rotavirus, but also eukaryotic parasites - one of the most fascinating groups of organisms exhibiting this behaviour.

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