Infectious diseases

i

Book Reviews

I:irslIy. the world no\v co\vrs all classes ol‘ pathogens in Live large C~OILI~L’S:\‘olutnc I (~+wlog~~J. \‘olurne 1. (systematic hacleriologJ~i. l’olume 1, (bacterial infections). \‘olumc 4 (medical t~~ycology) and \‘olume 5 iparasitology~. Each has its OMT~index and a general index to the entire ~vorlts is provided itt \~olumc h. Sccottdl~: the expansion required a change kom the almosl British authorship to 2 cii~aw 3.20 authors from lktropc. Il.S.r\. and the C’omlnon\4~eaIth. This work is complctcl~~ I-e-writton and tto~~ provides exteiisi\,c. up-to-date co\vrape of c\w~~ class 01 pathogen. The standard of iliustru~ions. many or which are now in colo~u-. is higher than previous editions. All wlumos are characlcrizcd 1~~.a MYXII~IJof excellcn~ dra\vings and photographs \vith dclailed rel’ercncing. Ho\~ww Ihe references used in sc~vr;tl chapters are not up to date and it, some chapters the latesl rel’cretices used only go back lo 199 1 ‘l’hirdly. I’oI- the first (ime it is published otl a single. userl’riendl!: C’I)-ROM allmving users to access and annotate large amo~~nls of itil‘orniatioti with citse and speed. Facilities lo custotnixc ont~‘s O\‘Itl copy ol’ the (‘I)-ROiLI by adding notes. highlighting and t~ool~mari~itig text are an attractive ftxalut-e. \‘olutne 4 I parasilologyl and \‘olumt~ i (medical mycology) at-c‘ iic~\’ lo this series anti clescr\~e special mention. For most 01 the 2Olh cenlur!. fungi UWY thoughi to be superficial infections \z,hcreas s!Acmic m!wws ~jwc ronsitlered (0 be rat-c saproph!?ic. Uo~zwdays. l’utlgi c;t~tsc’ lil’e-~hreateninp inl’wtions in itnm~tinodclicicnt individuals alid are encountered in e\w!. dq clitlical practice. Rightl’ully, a whole ~~ol~m~cis accorded lo rnt~ical mycolog,: ‘I’hcx introduclor~~ chapters at-C% devoted to history. taxonomy and diagnostic methods. ‘I‘~ro specific chapters co\vr thct-apeutic agctits. anti-fungal susceptibility testing and rcsislimce to anli-fungal agenls. Subsequent chapters present fungi on basis 01 their tiiorphological expressiotis ift virw and the r;tngr 01‘ discascs the), cause’. I’ttc~trrrtoc,!/s~is cur-ittii. now thought to be a I’LII~~LIS.is co\w-cd adequately in this ~~lumc allhough ;I trepcal chaplcr on I’ttcumoc~~~stis lk,rilten 13).diffcwtit aulhors is li)uncl iti \~oI~inic 5. ‘I‘htz itlclusion of ;I \wlutnc de\atcd to parasitolog:! (\‘olumc 5 I, is it \z~clcotne inclusion for \24iitt was previously rcgardcd its cxo(ic ptvhlems 01‘ concerti only to those living in Iropical couiitries. ‘l’tic mioutit of informalioti available for inclusion on parasilcs or relcva~lcc to human heallh is enormous and the editors compress this malcrial into TO 1 pages. l’ar1 1 gives an encellctt~ o\;er~4ew of the histot-!- 01’ httmiiti parasilolog~; cz:orld~~~idc imporltrncc 01‘ parositcs. their epidcmiolog~: irninutiopalhol~)~~~ arid c.ontrol. I’itrl II deals M,ilIi ;11lclasses 01‘ protozoa including 01 I, ;-M-i ~/L)~~/O.?Ol36 + 0 Sl.!.OOiO

Ihose which have assumed global signikancc since the advent of Ihe Iluni~iri Irnmutiodel’icicri~~~ Virus epidemic. Specific chapters are de\vtcd to toxoplasriiosis. ci-~ptosporidiosis. tnicwsporidiosis. pneumocystosis and isospora and c!.clospora. I’art III deals ext~nsi\~ely will, all classes of helmin~hs. Whether helminths [all under Ihe title ‘hlcdiurl ,2Jic,rc,/,iolo(l!I trr~tl ,2lic~r-ol~irr/ Itffi~r~tiorts’ is debatable. In rnan~~ chapters t hc rxcellen~ parasitologic;tl discussions on taxonomy, phylogenetic classification. life cycles and diagnosis are tainlcd by LISAof outdated rcl’crences and a rather poor co\~crage of clinical features and mat~agetnerit, This probablJ~ rellccts on the non-medical \:ol~une editorship and authorship 01’ man!’ chapters. For example. the chapter on ‘pneunioc),stosis’ dc~~~tes ;I mcagrc three quarter of a page to treatment 01 I’rfc~rrftr~~r~!/slis cur-irtii ptieuniotiia II’CI’I and uses references which at-t’ outdated lthc Iatcst one LISC~is 1YY 1 !I. providing a11 inadequate o\wview of t hr recent ad~wnces and s(ratcgies available liar the treat merit and prevention of KY! ‘l’hc medical i-cadet-ship is \vell advised 10 consult the latest literatures on treatment guidelines. The ninth edition. ‘.~lic,rrJbio/o!l!/ cftrd .Lfi~~rd~iitl /f!/wIiorfs’. remains one of the most popular definitive reltrence texts and is an essetilial reyuiremctil for microbiologists arid infectious disCLISCSspecialists. ‘I’he fi\,c \~~lurnes arc not available Ibr purchase scparntcl~~ and at just under a thousand pounds. Ihe purchase and use ma>. Lvell be limited lo library anti institutional use.

Ikill I’. (?a!- I,,\. ItfJcc~tiofrslli.scwc~s (colour guide). 2nd FAilion. Edinburgh: C’hurchill I,ivingstone. 1 YY X. ISIS.\: O-44 JO-5 77 1-O. 12 ipp. Pocket books should ha\v one of three main l’unctioits. They should either present information in ;I practical lot-mat for IISC on the wards or sumtnari~c a discrclc I’ield of inl’orma~ion in an easily digestible style or be formatted for self-testing:. ‘l‘his pocksized 12 5 page book CO\YTS J8 difkren~ infectious diseases or sydromes in outline and includes ;I brief index. Primary Iropical diseases are not considered in this \vlume \vhich is altracti\vly presented Lvith an easy-k-read page of l’acts opposite a page of good quality clinical pho@g-aphs. Howwr. this bool~ rather falls between stalls as the inbrtnation base is inadequate l’or an MRC’I’ candidate and il owrtl~~ steers :ILIYI!’ l’rom the tielailcd tnattag:ement of patienls. .\lthough gencrall~~ l’wt~tall~~ correcl. some errors h;i\c crept itito the re\,ised edition. For ~xatiiplc. the srctioti on AIlIS sugpcsts palients should have (‘IN counts. p14 antigcti. Al-tiiicroglohuliti and itnmutioglohulitls t-rgularI!, tnottilored to assess disease progression \vltcn in fact oni!, (‘I)-! counts (aid tl0IV ~k-~tl load I1lC~ISLII~c’tl1c’tl~ i ilIX’ uWtl cliriicall~: Ii is understatitlable that itifcc(ions which pro\~ide good clitlical pictures such as orf feature and that il is nccessarq ((1 bc selccti\-e lo keep the book compact. tiowe\w-. this cannel be suffic~ienl justifica(ioti for lca\.ing out itnpot-lanl syndt-otncs such

Book Reviews as infective endocarditis and whole subject areas such as fungal infection. In summary. although this book is an easy read, it lags behind its competitors such as those in the Mosby-Wolfe series. Jon

S. Friedland Lor1dor1, U.K.

Ellis ME (ed. I. Inf~ctia~rs DiscJascls of thc~ Rrspimtor;/ Trclct. Cambridge: Cambridge llniversity Press. 1998. ISBN: O-521405 54-S. hO5pp. Infectious diseases of the respiratory tract are common causes of morbidity a1x1 mortality worldwide and are on the increase worldwide in light of the III\’ epidemic. This single volume work covers the upper and lower respiratory tract in three parts. Part 1 deals with diagnostic methods, immune defence mechanisms and antimicrobial therapy. Part 2 covers all classes of major respiratory pathogens and Part 3 focuses on major respiratory syndromes. paediatric problems, intensive care. HIV/AIDS, cystic fibrosis and foreign travel. Management of respiratory diseases requires a multidisciplinary approach requiring a breadth of knowledge spanning several specialities. The first four chapters (Part 1) provide an excellent coverage of laboratory diagnosis of respiratory infections (chapter 1), radiological aspects of lung infection (chapter 2). lung defence mechanisms (chapter 3). and antimicrobial therapy (chapter 4). The excellent start to the book is sadly not matched by subsequent chapters. The rest of the book is a rather poor attempt at providing the breadth and diversity of authorship required to provide comprehensive coverage of each subject. There is a striking absence of any emphasis on HIV/AIDS related illnesses (Prwumcystis cnrirlii pneumonia is covered in a meagre three pages). The volume is dominated by the experience of the Editor and his Saudi Arabian colleagues. Thirteen out of 30 chapters has contributions from the Editor himself and five chapters are written by authors from Riyadh! This has resulted in a book which does rellect the needs of a global readership. Despite an elegantly presented front cover, the small size of the text compresses the presentation of material into an unattractive format and makes reading very laborious. The references quoted in text in all chapters are hopelessly out of date (only those from the early 1990s are used - this may reflect a delay of many years from submission to final publication). A drastic revision of the next edition will be required to make this book competitive on the world market.

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Paul PP. Francis DH. Benfield DA. Mwharks~~~s in tlw f’ntlro~]~~rl&s c;/ Eutuk DiscJclses.(Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology Vol 417). New York. IJSA: Plenum Publishing Corporation. ISBN: O-3064-5519-6. Price: $125. ‘Undesirable attachments’ would be the Guardian subtitle of this book. It is a conference proceedings volutne from a September 1995 International Rushmore conference (the first) in South Dakota. The interest to the clinical or basic scientist in human infectious diseases is that their discipline was definitely their minority player in the congress. The sponsors, and the majorit) of contributors. reflect the world of commercial agriculture. where enteric infection speaks with the language of finance. The volume is a wide ranging review of the relationship between pathogens and the gut, but largely divorced from the clinical overlay of disease in man. Reflecting it’s conference origin, it is of course uneven. Ten overview lectures are interspersed with articles reflecting a further 50 individual papers. The initial chapter gives an overview of the level at which infection can occur, from a histopathological perspective: adherence of organisms, destruction of enterocyte brush border. epithelial cell destruction. vascular necrosis, and epithelial hyperplasia which may be a mechanism or a response to infection. However. thereafter, predominantly though not exclusively. the volume is concerned \vith the initial interaction between pathogen and enterocyte. The most common topic is 1:. di which are pathogenetic via attachment and effacement, rather than by toxin or invasion. This is discussed from a wide range of perspectives ~ from the genetic basis of the bacterial intimin that is involved. to the epidemiology of the phenotypic variation in swine of expression of the receptor for the bacterial product. Fifty percent of Chester white pigs in the IJpper Mid West lack any receptor for the protein, and thus are not at risk. The foregoing suggests the volume is eclectic for the average reader of the journal. However. to the interested scientist there is a wealth of intriguing material. In addition to the wide range 01 work identifying bacterial molecules. mainly on fimbraic. which mediate adhesion to cells, alternative targets of bacterial adherence - extracellular matrix and plasminogen - are discussed, which presumably contribute to invasion and spread infection. Viral receptors for cellular oligosaccharides. gangliosides and integrins and other cellular proteins. are discussed. Alternative strategies for successful infection are discussed. Salmonellea have a survival advantage because they resist intracellular killing by macrophages. Many of the short chapters discuss specific techniques, varying from xenografts of gut on immunodeficient animals as models for infection. to descriptions of specific PCR techniques to identify particular bacterial adhesins. There is a perhaps surprising short section on the potential for vaccination, describing novel approaches such as recombinat rotavirus. or lipid encapsulated cholera toxin containing particles. to present neo-antigen to initiate mucosal immunity. This is a worthwhile book for the scientist, basic or clinical, interested in enteric infections, and open-minded enough to spend time on the advances initiated in the veterinary rather than the medical world. Humphrey

Hodgson fmdor1. U.K.