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Accidents and homicide
J. chron. Dis. 1968, Vol. 21, pp. 523-524. Pergamon Press.
Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEWS Vim
and RiekettaIaI DI of Man, S. BEDSON, A. W. Dowme, F. 0. MACCALLUM and C. H. STUART-HARRIS.4th ed. EDWARD ARNOLD, London, 1967. 462 pp. Indexed, illustrated. $14.00. Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, exclusive U.S. agents. The scope of medical virology has enlarged so rapidly during the past 15 yr that frequent revision of books in this area of microbiology seem mandatory. The 4th ed. of Virus and Rickettsial Diseases of Man is the most recent revision of one of the standard texts in this field. As with previous editions, this one also discusses viral and rickettsial diseases chiefly from the etiologic viewpoint and their clinical descriptions are brief. The chapter on the natural history of viral infections has been deleted and replaced by a stimulating discussion of the epidemiology of viral and rickettsial diseases, by C. H. Stuart-Harris. Other new topics include discussions of rhinoviruses, rubella infections and the possible viral etiology of malignant disease. This is a readable account of diseases of medical importance caused by obligate intracellular parasites and its concise quality is due largely to the evident care employed in selecting information for discussion. In addition, the book has been published so as to be moderate in size and comfortable in print. BYRON BERLIN
ACCIDENTS AND HOMICIDE. ALBERT P. ISKRANTand PAUL V. JOLIET. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1968. 202 pp. Indexed. Price $5.00. THIS book has come forth at a particularly appropriate time. It is specially fortunate that in addition to their discussion of accidents that they also included a chapter on homicide. The national indignanation following the death by bullet of Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy has made the entire subject of violence and murder a particularly meaningful one for all Americans. This book, while written by authors with a strong statistical bent, nevertheless is quite readable and makes an extremely convincing case for the importance of further research and preventive methods to be applied to the whole area of accidents and particularly accidents by man-made machines rather than by nature. While death from tornadoes, hurricanes and floods more frequently reaches the headlines, the grim fact is that more persons are killed and maimed on the highways by motor vehicles than are killed by any of the forces of nature. Further, these accidents more often occur during the early years of a person’s life and deserve to be indicted for “death at an early age”, whereas cardiovascular diseases and cancer become more significant later in life. This book even has implications for the entire teaching of medical students in its careful documentation of the death and disability from accidents which are so prevalent in childhood and even in old age. While most schools still emphasize infectious diseases, for example, very few teach the treatment and prevention of accidents. This is true for not only the acute and chronic treatment and rehabilitation of accident victims but also the invariable psychological concomitants resulting from such havoc. A few startling statistics from this book: In the period 1963-1965, 104,000 persons were killed and 52,OOO,OOO injured by accidents in the United States. Further, of 11,000,000 impairments there were 500,000 visual impairments and 400,000 impairments of hearing. One optimistic note: The death rate from accidents has declined gradually from a peak in 1936. Unfortunately, this is one of the very few optimistic notes, for by and large an ugly picture is painted of man damaging man, usually via machines, poisons, or guns, with which it behooves every physician to be concerned. From a stylistic standpoint, the authors have done the reader the service of placing all the tables and references in the back of the book so that actually the book is attractive for its brevity. This book should be highly recommended not only for all workers in this field, but also for all those who wish to become familiar with the appalling accident-homicide problem. ROY M. WHITMAN 523
Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEWS Vim
and RiekettaIaI DI of Man, S. BEDSON, A. W. Dowme, F. 0. MACCALLUM and C. H. STUART-HARRIS.4th ed. EDWARD ARNOLD, London, 1967. 462 pp. Indexed, illustrated. $14.00. Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, exclusive U.S. agents. The scope of medical virology has enlarged so rapidly during the past 15 yr that frequent revision of books in this area of microbiology seem mandatory. The 4th ed. of Virus and Rickettsial Diseases of Man is the most recent revision of one of the standard texts in this field. As with previous editions, this one also discusses viral and rickettsial diseases chiefly from the etiologic viewpoint and their clinical descriptions are brief. The chapter on the natural history of viral infections has been deleted and replaced by a stimulating discussion of the epidemiology of viral and rickettsial diseases, by C. H. Stuart-Harris. Other new topics include discussions of rhinoviruses, rubella infections and the possible viral etiology of malignant disease. This is a readable account of diseases of medical importance caused by obligate intracellular parasites and its concise quality is due largely to the evident care employed in selecting information for discussion. In addition, the book has been published so as to be moderate in size and comfortable in print. BYRON BERLIN
ACCIDENTS AND HOMICIDE. ALBERT P. ISKRANTand PAUL V. JOLIET. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1968. 202 pp. Indexed. Price $5.00. THIS book has come forth at a particularly appropriate time. It is specially fortunate that in addition to their discussion of accidents that they also included a chapter on homicide. The national indignanation following the death by bullet of Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy has made the entire subject of violence and murder a particularly meaningful one for all Americans. This book, while written by authors with a strong statistical bent, nevertheless is quite readable and makes an extremely convincing case for the importance of further research and preventive methods to be applied to the whole area of accidents and particularly accidents by man-made machines rather than by nature. While death from tornadoes, hurricanes and floods more frequently reaches the headlines, the grim fact is that more persons are killed and maimed on the highways by motor vehicles than are killed by any of the forces of nature. Further, these accidents more often occur during the early years of a person’s life and deserve to be indicted for “death at an early age”, whereas cardiovascular diseases and cancer become more significant later in life. This book even has implications for the entire teaching of medical students in its careful documentation of the death and disability from accidents which are so prevalent in childhood and even in old age. While most schools still emphasize infectious diseases, for example, very few teach the treatment and prevention of accidents. This is true for not only the acute and chronic treatment and rehabilitation of accident victims but also the invariable psychological concomitants resulting from such havoc. A few startling statistics from this book: In the period 1963-1965, 104,000 persons were killed and 52,OOO,OOO injured by accidents in the United States. Further, of 11,000,000 impairments there were 500,000 visual impairments and 400,000 impairments of hearing. One optimistic note: The death rate from accidents has declined gradually from a peak in 1936. Unfortunately, this is one of the very few optimistic notes, for by and large an ugly picture is painted of man damaging man, usually via machines, poisons, or guns, with which it behooves every physician to be concerned. From a stylistic standpoint, the authors have done the reader the service of placing all the tables and references in the back of the book so that actually the book is attractive for its brevity. This book should be highly recommended not only for all workers in this field, but also for all those who wish to become familiar with the appalling accident-homicide problem. ROY M. WHITMAN 523