DIAGNMICROBIOLINFECTDIS 1986;5:181-183
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BOOK REVIEWS
Bela Ralovich, Listeriosis Research: Present Situation and Perspective, 1984, Akademiai Kiado Publishers, Distributed by Heyden & Sons, Inc., Philadelphia. Several outbreaks of listeriosis have recently resulted from foods such as cheese, cold slaw, and milk being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.This book is very timely in that problematic issues related to the bacteriology, pathogenicity, virulence, diagnosis, and prevention of listeriosis are reviewed. The author gives special focus to "new results which have not been published before in a review." He also provides many insights and conclusions, some of which are debatable. The book contains numerous tables and figures and has an excellent appendix of reagents and media. It lacks a good index, however, and in some sections, it is difficult to understand because the author's native language is not English. The review of the literature is extensive. Unfortunately, the state-of-the-art is not presented in some areas because the book was printed in 1984. Taxonomy is an example. From the references available at the time of writing, the author concluded that only two species of Listeria would probably be recognized, namely L. monocytogenes and L. grayii. Five species, however, in the genus Listeria (L. monocytogenes, L. innocua, L. welshimeri, L. seeligeri, and L. ivanovii) and two species in the genus Murraya (M. grayi subspecies gray/and M. grayi subspecies murrayi) are now officially recognized. In conclusion, the book provides a great deal of information and is therefore recommended as a reference source. JAMESC. FEELEY,Ph.D. Center for Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control Atlanta, GA
Gerald P. Bodey and Victor Fainstein, Editors, Candidiasis, 1985, 1-Xll, 281 pp., New York, Raven Press, $45.50. The multitude of papers that appear annually on the various manifestations of candidiasis attest to the public health importance of this disease as the most widespread and frequent of the mycoses. Candidiasis is caused by a little more than a handful of the 190 species that are currently classified in the genus Candida. Publication of this multi-authored book under the guidance of its editors is a timely event. There has been a crying need for an authoritative summarization and evaluation of what is currently known about candidiasis. Readers will benefit greatly from the contributions of the experts selected to write the 15 chapters of this valuable book. The chapters deal with the following aspects of the subject: Mycology of Candida Infections (Hopfer RL); Histologic Identification and Pathological Patterns of Disease Due to Candida (Luna MA and Tortoledo ME); Candida Infections in Experimental Animals (Louria DR); Candidiasis: Pathogenesis, Host Resistance and Predisposing Factors (Smith CB); Radiology of Candida Infections (Pagani JJ and Libshitz HI); Laboratory Diagnosis of Candidiasis (Kozinn PJ and Taschdjian CL); Epidemiology and Prevention of Candida Infections (Wade JC and Schimpff SC); Systemic Candidiasis (Bodey GP and Fainstein V); Urinary and Genital Candida Infections (Gentry © 1986Elsevier SciencePublishing Co., Inc. 52 Vanderbilt Avenue,New York,NY 10017
0732-8893/86/$03.50
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Book Reviews
LO and Price MF); Candidiasis of the Gastrointestinal Tract (Boliva R and Bodey GP); Endocarditis Caused by Candida Species (Reyes MP and Lerner AM); Candida Endopthalmitis (Edwards JE Jr); Cutaneous Candidiasis (Rosen T); Chronic Mucocutaneous Candidiasis (Cleary TG); Treatment of Candida Infections (Utz JP and Drouhet E). A comprehensive index adds to the value of the book. The chapters, where appropriate, are illustrated with black and white and color photographs. Each chapter is followed by 25 to 125 well chosen, up-to-date references. The sturdily bound book is printed with large, easily legible type on fine quality stock paper. The text is virtually free of typographical errors. Factually, few errors were noted. The most glaring one was the statement in the section on the "Mycology of Candida Infections" that an antibiotic containing medium that inhibits both bacterial and fungal contamination allows the "detection of slower growing fungi such as Cryptococcus neoformans." This pathogenic yeast is not only not slow growing, but its growth is completely inhibited by cycloheximide. Although discussed or included in the text, such species as Candida guillermondii and C. stellatoidea, (C. albicans var stellatoidea) are not cited in the index. The editors are to be commended for selecting and using the word "candidiasis," throughout the text, as the name for infections caused by the pathogenic species of Candida. In the section on the "Laboratory Diagnosis of Candidiasis" Kozinn and Taschdjian's advocacy of "candidosis" is based on a fallacious premise. The suffix -iasis does not necessarily or consistently denote "a parasitic rather than a mycotic infection, whose names generally end in -osis." One has only to recall such well known parasitic diseases as coccidiosis, echinococcosis, and trichinosis to see the speciousness of their argument. Etymologically speaking, either version is correct. The choice between the two names rests on personal preference and established usage, not on scientific grounds. The nomenclatural transition from moniliasis to candidiasis is more consistent and harmonious than the jarring jump to "candidosis." The editors of Candidiasis and their contributors have written a timely and authoritative book on a complex disease of global importance. The book is unreservedly recommended to all who deal with the medical challenge presented by the pathogenic species of Candida. LIBERO AJELLO, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Mycotic Diseases Center for Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control Atlanta, GA
Martha E. Kern, Medical Mycology. A Self-instructional Text, 1985, I-XXVII, 239 pp., Philadelphia, F.A. Davis., Co., $24.95. Unusual among the currently available publications that deal with the pathogenic fungi of humans is this paper-bound manual. It is designed to serve as a self-teaching course in the laboratory diagnosis of diseases caused by actinomycetes and fungi, Following an introductory chapter on "How to use this text," the book is organized in the form of seven Modules: 1--Basic Mycology, 2--Laboratory Procedures for Fungal Culture and Isolation, 3--Common Fungal Contaminants, 4---Superficial and Dermatophytic Fungi, 5--Yeasts, 6---Organisms Causing Subcutaneous Mycoses, and 7--Organisms Causing Systemic Mycoses. These seven modules are followed by Appendix A--Answers for Study Questions and Final Exams; Appendix B--Common Synonyms; Appendix C,--Glossary; a group of color plates (75) and an Index. The diligent and highly motivated student will find this manual highly informative