Humans have lived in close proximity to other animals for thousands of years. Recent scientific studies have even shown that the presence of animals has a positive effect on our physical and mental health. People with pets typically have lower blood pressure, show fewer symptoms of depression, and tend to get more exercise. But there is a darker side to the relationship between animals and humans. Animals are carriers of harmful infectious agents and the source of a myriad of human diseases. In recent years, the emergence of high-profile illnesses such as AIDS, SARS, West Nile virus, and bird ... View More...
Marc Siegel is an articulate voice of reason in a world beset by hype and hysteria. We would be well advised to listen closely to what he has to say.-Jerome Groopman, M.D., staff writer, the New Yorker ""Siegel cuts through the hype about the 'deadly' this and the 'lethal' that, and applies reason in seeking the answers.""-John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History ""Timely and needed. At such times, we need soothsayers and explicators to redirect the ready-fire-aim mindset. Siegel's book fulfills this role well.""-The Journal of the America... View More...
Even as humanity reels beneath the assault of AIDS, epidemiologists are gearing themselves up for the plague's successor. It might be dengue fever, whose carrier, the Asian tiger mosquito, has recently appeared in the United States, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has been transmitted by contaminated human growth hormone. The next pandemic might be caused by any of a dozen viruses that were once confined to other species or territories but now place human beings at risk as we increasingly cross their boundaries. Updated to include the latest research and developments, this fascinating and ... View More...
Even as humanity reels beneath the assault of AIDS, epidemiologists are gearing themselves up for the plague's successor. It might be dengue fever, whose carrier, the Asian tiger mosquito, has recently appeared in the United States, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has been transmitted by contaminated human growth hormone. The next pandemic might be caused by any of a dozen viruses that were once confined to other species or territories but now place human beings at risk as we increasingly cross their boundaries. Updated to include the latest research and developments, this fascinating and ... View More...
"Eloquent, gripping, harrowing."--Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone When a mysterious virus first exploded in Zaire in 1976, American physician William T. Close worked desperately to contain the outbreak. Haunted by this wrenching crisis, Dr. Close felt compelled to honor the memory of the courageous people he knew and lost. This is their story: a terrifying, completely authentic novel that begins with an invisible killer. It strikes without warning--a lethal disease with no name . . . and no cure. At a Catholic mission in Yambuku, a remote village sixty miles south of the Ebola Rive... View More...
The emergence of HIV disease and AIDS, the reemergence of tuberculosis, and the increased opportunity for disease spread through international travel demonstrate the critical importance of global vigilance for infectious diseases. This volume highlights risk factors for the emergence of microbial threats to health, warns against complacency in public health, and promotes early prevention as a cost-effective and crucial strategy for maintaining public health in the United States and worldwide. The volume identifies infectious disease threats posed by bacteria and viruses, as well as protozoans,... View More...
This is the first comprehensive text on the methodological issues in epidemiologic research on infectious diseases. It will be an invaluable resource both to students of epidemiology and to established researchers. The authors address such questions as: What needs to be considered when enrolling participants in a study of sexually transmitted diseases? What are common sources of measurement error in population-based studies of respiratory infections? What are some sources of existing data for epidemiologic studies of infectious diseases? Answers to these and many other related questions can be... View More...
Findings from the field of evolutionary biology are yielding dramatic insights for health scientists, especially those involved in the fight against infectious diseases. This book is the first in-depth presentation of these insights. In detailing why the pathogens that cause malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, and AIDS have their special kinds of deadliness, the book shows how efforts to control virtually all diseases would benefit from a more thorough application of evolutionary principles. When viewed from a Darwinian perspective, a pathogen is not simply a disease-causing agent, it is a self-r... View More...
Twenty Years ago the world slept, confident that biomedical science would protect it from devastating plagues. Our wake-up call sounded at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Then came more unfamiliar pathogens in its wake, such as the West Nile Virus. Meanwhile, the neglected diseases of the Third World, including malaria and African sleeping sickness, festered -- their victims salvageable only by unaffordable drugs. Robert S. Desowitz traces the histories of these diseases and the issues we must confront -- the morality and legality of patent laws; the effect of global warming on epidemics; p... View More...
A national bestseller, the fast-paced and gripping account of the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918 from acclaimed science journalist Gina Kolata, now featuring a new epilogue about avian flu. When we think of plagues, we think of AIDS, Ebola, anthrax spores, and, of course, the Black Death. But in 1918 the Great Flu Epidemic killed an estimated forty million people virtually overnight. If such a plague returned today, taking a comparable percentage of the US population with it, 1.5 million Americans would die. In Flu, Gina Kolata, an acclaimed reporter for The New York Times, unravels the mystery ... View More...
The fascinating, true story of the world's deadliest disease. In 1918, the Great Flu Epidemic felled the young and healthy virtually overnight. An estimated forty million people died as the epidemic raged. Children were left orphaned and families were devastated. As many American soldiers were killed by the 1918 flu as were killed in battle during World War I. And no area of the globe was safe. Eskimos living in remote outposts in the frozen tundra were sickened and killed by the flu in such numbers that entire villages were wiped out. Scientists have recently rediscovered shards of the flu vi... View More...
This revised edition has been updated thoroughly throughout in line with current policy, clinical practice in the UK. It contains new material on emerging pathogens, antimicrobial agents and resistance, and infection control guidance. The evidence-base for infection control practice has been fully revised to take into account new research and guidance.a truly comprehensive book covering all aspects of infection control that health professionals will need to know about in clinical practice the information is research-based and extensively referenced providing an invaluable resource for current ... View More...
This book shows readers the reality of polio and how it alters human lives. Thirty-five polio survivors open their hearts to explain their experiences-the day they were diagnosed with polio, their initial hospital stay, the therapy and the treatments they received, and the effects of polio on their childhood, youth, adulthood, and relationships with others. The editor, a polio survivor himself, and two colleagues obtained interviews with these survivors. The result is this written tribute to the survival of the human spirit. The book begins with an introduction to the disease. Next, the storie... View More...
As timely as it is urgent, this well-researched book from veteran science journalist Madeline Drexler delivers a compelling report on today's most ominous infectious disease threats. She focuses on a different danger in each chapter-from the looming risk of lethal influenza to in-depth information on the public health perils posed by bioterrorism. With a novelist's descriptive eye and a thriller writer's sense of tension, she warns us that the most ceaselessly creative bioterrorist is still Mother Nature, whose microbial operatives are all around us, ready to pounce when conditions are right. View More...
An exploration of the battle against microbes, based on research in virology, molecular biology, disease ecology, and medicine, examines the current outbreak of infectious diseases and outlines what can be done to prevent the coming plague. View More...
Presents information about the origins of infectious diseases; discusses protection and prevention of diseases and bioterrorism; and describes the nature of infectious organisms and how the body deals with infection. View More...
Part science, part riveting historical adventure about one of the great scourges to afflict mankindEvery year malaria kills 1.5 to 2.7 million people -- more than half of those deaths are children -- and 300 to 500 million people fall ill with the disease. As of yet, there is no cure. Malaria is a deadly virus with a vicious ability to mutate; it has, over the centuries, changed the course of history as epidemics swept through countries and devastated armies. Until the middle of the seventeenth century, little was understood about the nature of the disease, or how to treat it. But there was a ... View More...
The bestselling landmark account of the first emergence of the Ebola virus. Now a mini-series drama starring Julianna Margulies, Topher Grace, Liam Cunningham, James D'Arcy, and Noah Emmerich on National Geographic.A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic hot virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the ap... View More...
The bestselling landmark account of the first emergence of the Ebola virus. Now a mini-series drama starring Julianna Margulies, Topher Grace, Liam Cunningham, James D'Arcy, and Noah Emmerich on National Geographic.A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic hot virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the ap... View More...
Avian influenza is a viral asteroid on a collision course with humanity. In 1918 a pandemic strain of influenza killed at least 40 million people in three months. Now, leading researchers believe, another world catastrophe is imminent. A virus of astonishing lethality, known as H5N1, has become entrenched in the poultry and wild bird populations of East Asia. It kills two out of three people it infects. The World Health Organisation warns that it is on the verge of mutating into a super-contagious pandemic form that could visit several billion homes within two years. In this urgent and extraor... View More...
