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Viral hepatitis
313
Book reviews
The standard of presentation is good, apart from some photomicrographs which are unclear. The price will surprise only those who do not regularly visit medical bookshops. Henry
West Suflolk Hospital Bury St. Edmunds
W. K. Fell
Contemporary Issues in Infectious Diseases, Volume 3. Bacterial meningitis. Eds, M. A. Sande, A. L. Smith 272. Price E42.50.
& R. K. Root. Edinburgh;
Churchill
Livingstone
(1985). pp.
Twenty-six authors have contributed to this work, which devotes 14 chapters to developments in the field of bacterial meningitis and two to fungal and amoebic infections. The book gives an insight into the mechanisms responsible for the development of meningitis, changes in the microvasculature of the brain as well as the hydrodynamic and biochemical changes in the CSF. Pathophysiological data ranging from the arteriographic findings in children with pneumococcal meningitis to the mechanism which produces low CSF glucose levels in leucopoenic rabbits are reviewed. The clinical and laboratory findings which relate to recovery or the development of neurological sequelae are reviewed and the mechanisms explored. The chapters reviewing the use of animal models in developing therapeutic strategies and those on treatment in man should give the reader ammunition with which to fend off the overenthusiastic drug representative, as well as raising their hopes for the future. The sheer weight of information makes some of the chapters indigestible but constantly there are new vistas. Will steroids or intraventricular antibiotics have a renaissance and will immunoglobulins for the young or antipilus vaccines move centrestage? Time will tell. This book certainly gives food for thought and to get most benefit the reader must linger. Price may deter individuals from its purchase, but it deserves to be read by those with more than a nodding acquaintance with meningitis.
Birmingham
Children’s Hospital Ladyevood Birmingham B16 8ET
R. H. George
Viral hepatitis. F. Blaine Hollinger, York;
Raven Press (1985).
Joseph L. Melnick, pp. 213. Price $35.00.
William
S. Robinson.
New
As well as being recognized experts in the field of hepatitis, the three authors of this book are also experienced writers who have succeeded in covering an enormous topic concisely, comprehensively and, as one would expect, accurately. The volume is all the more readable since the whole field is dealt with by just the three authors who manage to provide a degree of cohesion, increasingly rare in many of the modern multi-author collections of articles so popular now. The book is written mainly from an American viewpoint, reflecting the authors’ collective experience, but most of the data is directly pertinent to Europe and only
Book reviews
314
relatively few detailed observations and policies are open to argument or alternative interpretation. The two main sections are Hepatitis Viruses and their Replication and Clinical Features, Immunodiagnosis and Immunoprophylaxis and all the chapters are liberally served with references to publications. Another valuable feature is the detailed subject index allowing the book to fulfil a useful reference function. The treatment of all the sections is professional and up to date and covers the biological and clinical aspects of heptatitis A, hepatitis B, non-A, non-B hepatitis and the delta agent. Where the information is available molecular biological, epidemiological and serological data are presented in a detailed yet extremely readable fashion. The sections on the molecular biology of HBV and related viruses and their replication and the aspects of prevention and control seemed to me especially well presented. At a time when so much of the published literature is centred around more recently discovered viruses, and even at $35.00 (and with an unfavourable exchange rate), I would give an unqualified recommendation to workers from the whole spectrum of hepatitis, from clinical to laboratory areas, to read the book. It can provide both a comprehensive review for those with experience in the field or a good foundation for future studies in the subject. John
A. J. Barbara
North London Blood Transfusion Centre Deansbrook Road, Edgware Middlesex HA8 9BD
Endocarditis. Eds M. Sande, D. Kaye & R. Root. Volume 2 of a series contemporary issues of infectious disease. New York; Churchill-Livingstone (1984). Price E35.00.
on
The first chapter by Scheld considers five major areas-non-bacterial thrombic endocarditis (NBTE); fibrin platelet deposits on altered valvular endothelium which form nidi for colonization during bacteraemia; transient bacteraemia; interactions between NBTE and organisms, and immunological factors. Of particular clinical relevance is the section dealing with transient bacteraemia. The author states ‘it is evident that symptoms of endocarditis develop fairly promptly after the event predisposing the bacteraemia’ and mentions a recent study where the delay from dental extraction to the development of symptoms is equal or less than 2 weeks in 85% of cases. There is a section dealing with mechanisms of adhesion of organisms to fibrin-platelet vegetations including the role of dextran, and the role of specific antibody in preventing or enhancing endocarditis. The chapter by Drake & Sande on antimicrobial treatment reviews the advances in knowledge from laboratory models especially concerning penicillin-aminoglycoside combinations, but also points out the limitations of these models. They stress that direct comparison or extrapolation to response in humans is always dangerous. Wilson & Geraci deal with the rationale and efficacy of 2-week courses of antibiotic treatments for endocarditis caused by penicillin sensitive streptococci using a penicillin-aminoglycoside combination. An excellent up-to-date review of the treatment of enterococcal endocarditis is given by Moellering, whose chapter gives detailed information on the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in enterococci including a discussion of enterococcal conjugation. In vitro and in vivo observations
Book reviews
The standard of presentation is good, apart from some photomicrographs which are unclear. The price will surprise only those who do not regularly visit medical bookshops. Henry
West Suflolk Hospital Bury St. Edmunds
W. K. Fell
Contemporary Issues in Infectious Diseases, Volume 3. Bacterial meningitis. Eds, M. A. Sande, A. L. Smith 272. Price E42.50.
& R. K. Root. Edinburgh;
Churchill
Livingstone
(1985). pp.
Twenty-six authors have contributed to this work, which devotes 14 chapters to developments in the field of bacterial meningitis and two to fungal and amoebic infections. The book gives an insight into the mechanisms responsible for the development of meningitis, changes in the microvasculature of the brain as well as the hydrodynamic and biochemical changes in the CSF. Pathophysiological data ranging from the arteriographic findings in children with pneumococcal meningitis to the mechanism which produces low CSF glucose levels in leucopoenic rabbits are reviewed. The clinical and laboratory findings which relate to recovery or the development of neurological sequelae are reviewed and the mechanisms explored. The chapters reviewing the use of animal models in developing therapeutic strategies and those on treatment in man should give the reader ammunition with which to fend off the overenthusiastic drug representative, as well as raising their hopes for the future. The sheer weight of information makes some of the chapters indigestible but constantly there are new vistas. Will steroids or intraventricular antibiotics have a renaissance and will immunoglobulins for the young or antipilus vaccines move centrestage? Time will tell. This book certainly gives food for thought and to get most benefit the reader must linger. Price may deter individuals from its purchase, but it deserves to be read by those with more than a nodding acquaintance with meningitis.
Birmingham
Children’s Hospital Ladyevood Birmingham B16 8ET
R. H. George
Viral hepatitis. F. Blaine Hollinger, York;
Raven Press (1985).
Joseph L. Melnick, pp. 213. Price $35.00.
William
S. Robinson.
New
As well as being recognized experts in the field of hepatitis, the three authors of this book are also experienced writers who have succeeded in covering an enormous topic concisely, comprehensively and, as one would expect, accurately. The volume is all the more readable since the whole field is dealt with by just the three authors who manage to provide a degree of cohesion, increasingly rare in many of the modern multi-author collections of articles so popular now. The book is written mainly from an American viewpoint, reflecting the authors’ collective experience, but most of the data is directly pertinent to Europe and only
Book reviews
314
relatively few detailed observations and policies are open to argument or alternative interpretation. The two main sections are Hepatitis Viruses and their Replication and Clinical Features, Immunodiagnosis and Immunoprophylaxis and all the chapters are liberally served with references to publications. Another valuable feature is the detailed subject index allowing the book to fulfil a useful reference function. The treatment of all the sections is professional and up to date and covers the biological and clinical aspects of heptatitis A, hepatitis B, non-A, non-B hepatitis and the delta agent. Where the information is available molecular biological, epidemiological and serological data are presented in a detailed yet extremely readable fashion. The sections on the molecular biology of HBV and related viruses and their replication and the aspects of prevention and control seemed to me especially well presented. At a time when so much of the published literature is centred around more recently discovered viruses, and even at $35.00 (and with an unfavourable exchange rate), I would give an unqualified recommendation to workers from the whole spectrum of hepatitis, from clinical to laboratory areas, to read the book. It can provide both a comprehensive review for those with experience in the field or a good foundation for future studies in the subject. John
A. J. Barbara
North London Blood Transfusion Centre Deansbrook Road, Edgware Middlesex HA8 9BD
Endocarditis. Eds M. Sande, D. Kaye & R. Root. Volume 2 of a series contemporary issues of infectious disease. New York; Churchill-Livingstone (1984). Price E35.00.
on
The first chapter by Scheld considers five major areas-non-bacterial thrombic endocarditis (NBTE); fibrin platelet deposits on altered valvular endothelium which form nidi for colonization during bacteraemia; transient bacteraemia; interactions between NBTE and organisms, and immunological factors. Of particular clinical relevance is the section dealing with transient bacteraemia. The author states ‘it is evident that symptoms of endocarditis develop fairly promptly after the event predisposing the bacteraemia’ and mentions a recent study where the delay from dental extraction to the development of symptoms is equal or less than 2 weeks in 85% of cases. There is a section dealing with mechanisms of adhesion of organisms to fibrin-platelet vegetations including the role of dextran, and the role of specific antibody in preventing or enhancing endocarditis. The chapter by Drake & Sande on antimicrobial treatment reviews the advances in knowledge from laboratory models especially concerning penicillin-aminoglycoside combinations, but also points out the limitations of these models. They stress that direct comparison or extrapolation to response in humans is always dangerous. Wilson & Geraci deal with the rationale and efficacy of 2-week courses of antibiotic treatments for endocarditis caused by penicillin sensitive streptococci using a penicillin-aminoglycoside combination. An excellent up-to-date review of the treatment of enterococcal endocarditis is given by Moellering, whose chapter gives detailed information on the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in enterococci including a discussion of enterococcal conjugation. In vitro and in vivo observations