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A practical approach to infectious diseases
BOOK
REVIEWS
233
A Practical Approach to Infectious Diseases. Edited by RICHARDE. REESE,M.D., and GORDONDOUGLAS, by Quest Publishing Agency. Price f28.85 JR., M.D. Published The science of microbiology has become inseparable from the clinical aspects ‘of infection and to bring the science and the art together at the patient’s bedside physicians in infectious disease are, for better or for worse, regarding the full breadth of infections in general as a physicians specialty. This excellent handbook with contributions from 21 authors has been planned with the needs of practising physicians in mind. Clinical aspects of infection using an artline format rather than narrative style are dealt with clearly and concisely. There are chapters on the generality of fevers, laboratory aids in infectious diseases, and the use of antibiotics (99 pages). These lead into chapters on specific clinical topics such as neonatal sepsis, skin infection and respiratory tract infection. Each is a chapter which is well balanced and uniformly laid and the consistent editorial policy makes for really quite easy reading. Coming as it does from New York certain allowances have to be made for style and there are the now acceptable variations in spelling and syntax which do not intrude. Amongst the more important subject variations the reader should be warned that the American policy on immunisation schedules particularly for rubella and for the protection of travellers requires very careful translation before being assimilated for use in the United Kingdom. Several chapters have been expanded compared with their usual clinical importance and this has been a deliberate policy because of the frequency of occurrence of infections of this sort in the content of the problems seen by the primary care physicians. In particular the chapters on eye infection and fungal infection are detailed and rewarding whilst other chapters have been packed with information (for example those on gastro-intestinal infections and intra-abdominal infection). The microbiology of infection is generally well founded, well described and reliable. There are of course transatlantic idiosyncracies occasionally (in Chapter 4 it is suggested that a 60-year-old patient with renal failure and a prosthetic aortic valve should receive prophylactic vancomycin prior to cystoscopy as an alternative to penicillin to which the patient is allergic; this would not perhaps meet with universal approval in the United Kingdom). Nonetheless, this is an extremely valuable book for all who are involved in diagnosis and treatment of infection both in hospital and in primary care practice. It is possible to use it as a reference book or as a topic revue and specific problems can easily be solved by use of its logical easily read format and its excellent cross references. The colour plates, however, added very little to the value of the book; those which were supposed to be demonstrating microbiological specimens were at best ambiguous and at worst misleading, whilst some of the other figures (for example Figure 2.1 &owing inhibition zones around discs on a culture plate) were poorly described and not helpful. The bibliography and references at each chapter’s end are greatly enhanced in value by some brief pertinent sentences of comment from the authors and all were reasonably up to date; those for example in the chapter on ‘antibiotic use’ had few that were more recent than 1981 but the majority were grouped about that year. This book would prove a valuable addition to any medical library and can be recommended for the practitioner who is frequently in the forefront in the diagnosis of the management of treatment of patients with infection. It is probably both in its scope and depth more than is needed in a general dental practice but would prove a very useful adjunct to the understanding of the bacterial, viral and fungal infections found therein. M. NICHOLLS
REVIEWS
233
A Practical Approach to Infectious Diseases. Edited by RICHARDE. REESE,M.D., and GORDONDOUGLAS, by Quest Publishing Agency. Price f28.85 JR., M.D. Published The science of microbiology has become inseparable from the clinical aspects ‘of infection and to bring the science and the art together at the patient’s bedside physicians in infectious disease are, for better or for worse, regarding the full breadth of infections in general as a physicians specialty. This excellent handbook with contributions from 21 authors has been planned with the needs of practising physicians in mind. Clinical aspects of infection using an artline format rather than narrative style are dealt with clearly and concisely. There are chapters on the generality of fevers, laboratory aids in infectious diseases, and the use of antibiotics (99 pages). These lead into chapters on specific clinical topics such as neonatal sepsis, skin infection and respiratory tract infection. Each is a chapter which is well balanced and uniformly laid and the consistent editorial policy makes for really quite easy reading. Coming as it does from New York certain allowances have to be made for style and there are the now acceptable variations in spelling and syntax which do not intrude. Amongst the more important subject variations the reader should be warned that the American policy on immunisation schedules particularly for rubella and for the protection of travellers requires very careful translation before being assimilated for use in the United Kingdom. Several chapters have been expanded compared with their usual clinical importance and this has been a deliberate policy because of the frequency of occurrence of infections of this sort in the content of the problems seen by the primary care physicians. In particular the chapters on eye infection and fungal infection are detailed and rewarding whilst other chapters have been packed with information (for example those on gastro-intestinal infections and intra-abdominal infection). The microbiology of infection is generally well founded, well described and reliable. There are of course transatlantic idiosyncracies occasionally (in Chapter 4 it is suggested that a 60-year-old patient with renal failure and a prosthetic aortic valve should receive prophylactic vancomycin prior to cystoscopy as an alternative to penicillin to which the patient is allergic; this would not perhaps meet with universal approval in the United Kingdom). Nonetheless, this is an extremely valuable book for all who are involved in diagnosis and treatment of infection both in hospital and in primary care practice. It is possible to use it as a reference book or as a topic revue and specific problems can easily be solved by use of its logical easily read format and its excellent cross references. The colour plates, however, added very little to the value of the book; those which were supposed to be demonstrating microbiological specimens were at best ambiguous and at worst misleading, whilst some of the other figures (for example Figure 2.1 &owing inhibition zones around discs on a culture plate) were poorly described and not helpful. The bibliography and references at each chapter’s end are greatly enhanced in value by some brief pertinent sentences of comment from the authors and all were reasonably up to date; those for example in the chapter on ‘antibiotic use’ had few that were more recent than 1981 but the majority were grouped about that year. This book would prove a valuable addition to any medical library and can be recommended for the practitioner who is frequently in the forefront in the diagnosis of the management of treatment of patients with infection. It is probably both in its scope and depth more than is needed in a general dental practice but would prove a very useful adjunct to the understanding of the bacterial, viral and fungal infections found therein. M. NICHOLLS