Book Description

Highly readable, American Plagues relays the most important epidemics in U.S. history. The author's engaging writing style helps readers understand the major concepts in the spread of disease and the roles of medicine and public health in combating epidemics. Current and classic medical studies are used as examples throughout the text. ... Read more

Book Description

This comprehensive and timely reference is a valuable source of information in the rapidly changing world of infectious disease. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Much harder than it used to be.
I've had a couple friends review this exam book after they took the test recently (a couple weeks ago), and they all told me the questions are too easy in this book. The actual CCRN questions are worded to confuse you, and the answers you expect to be there aren't there. For example, if a patient has a high potassium, which would you give? In the CCRN, they wouldn't give you some easy choice like keyaxelate or insulin, they'd give you something crazy like sodium polystyrene sulfonate. In the CCRN, they probably wouldn't even mention hyperkalemia. They'd say something like "A patient is on spironolactone and begins to develop dysrhythmias, which of the following would you do?" So it helps to know the rationalization behind the questions in this book, and always know 3 or 4 ways to treating a problem. And when all else fails, rule out each choice as you go along.

Helped me pass CCRN the first time!
I love this book. I have passed it on to my friends as well. I used Laura's CCRN review tapes and this book the first time that I took CCRN and passed. Now, I am taking the test again after 6 years and I am using the same material! Great book!

You could do better than this book
I originally took (and passed) the CCRN six years ago. At that time I used a prior version of this book to study, but upon taking the exam did not feel that the questions adequately prepared me for the test. Experience and wading through the Core Curiculum got me through. Okay, maybe some luck as well.

Now that I have to recertify by retesting, I thought I would give Vonfrolio another shot. I should not have bothered, and here's why. In many questions the rationales are not adequately explained; there are many questions, like the exam itself, where there are two close answers. Why one is better than the other is frequently not discussed. The ACLS questions seemed a bit odd, such as including Isuprel (I'm an ACLS instructor, and Isuprel has been on the outs for ages). To be fair, I do not know if this is representative of the current CCRN exam, but I found it to not be the case six years ago. I also ran into a few questions which contradict some of my prior education - I need to double check to see who is right, but it happened enough that I am now cautious.

... the CCRN exam is tough - the hardest test I have ever taken. I did not feel that the book's wording or level of misery sufficiently represented the exam. You may well find that this works well in conjunction with another resource. And again, I have not taken the test in six years,so it may well have changed. If that is the case I will reconsider my review and edit it as needed. Her CEN exam was pretty close to the test, but I found the CEN substantially easier than the CCRN, and I was working in ICU at the time!

If you're attempting the exam for the first time, let me wish you luck. If - or rather WHEN - you pass, know that you have accomplished something worthwhile. Good luck!

Laura is a must for any critical care nurse
It is a well-known fact that Laura Gasparis Vonfrolio makes sense of that overwhelming mass of information known as critical care. Whether employed in the Pre/Inter-Hospital Enviornment, Emergency Department or Critical Care Unit, a nurse benefits from studying her offerings and attending her seminars. I find the question and answer format an excellent teaching tool, especially with the expanded answer section explaining the rational behind the correct, and incorrect anwers. My only wish is that she would publish a companion CD with the text to practice taking the exam in the new format. A must have for anyone taking the CCRN to do those "mental aerobics" she discusses in preparation for the test. Good luck all! Dori Lawson RN PHRN CEN CFRN

Not what I expected
Short and sweet: It's a big book of multiple choice questions on the CCRN systems. If you are looking for 'cliff's notes' on the exam ......... this isn't it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Really helpful clinical guide
The pocket size and light weight make this a great addition for reference while at your nursing clinicals. Contains synopses of disease process, typical tests for diagnosis, and basic nursing assessments and interventions. I am doing a clinical nursing internship this summer and needed something compact for my briefcase, yet containing good info to refresh me on the diseases and illnesses I was encountering in my patients. This book fills the bill. My prof loved it too. The spiral binding is nice rather than a glued binding, but needs a bit of redesign as the back cover falls off. I just sewed up the openings with some fishing line to solve that problem. Highly recommended addition to your working library. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Covered most of my questions
I think the book was well written and I liked the author's writing style. Its a little outdated though. I would like to see an updated edition with more data on the newer anti herpes drugs such as Valtrex. Its been 5 years, so its time to get some newer information out there.

The best I have found.
This book is a comprehensive collection of questions that a person (infected or not) probably has. And there are questions that may not have even been thought of.

Stepehen Sacks "speaks" to the reader in a way that is humane and almost comforting. He answers these questions and presents the facts in a straightforward, realistic, non-judgemental and responsible way.

Some things this book explains are:

Symptoms.

Medical aspects of infection/ reinfection (in a way easily understood by those not in the medical profession.)

Type 1 vs. Type 2.

Means of transmission.

Management of the virus.

Asymptomatic vs. having symptoms and not knowing it.

Herpes and cancer.

It also addresses pshcological concerns and neonatal concerns.

It contains color plates that visually exemplify the virus.

This book will allow those who read it to have the knowledge they need to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Read this book with your highligter and a notepad by your side.

This book saved my life . . . my self-esteem, marriage, etc!
This book is very informative. I learned more from this book than I did from the multitude of web sites on the subject. It's THE book to give to someone close who doesn't understand the disease.

If you or someone you love has herpes... Read this book !!!
This book not only explains and informs about the physical aspects of herpes better than any other I have ever seen, but it also places all of this information within a "ethically and morally neutral" framework, in which the reader has the choice and is presented with alternative perspectives about how to come to grips with their own infection.... the risk to others... to tell or not to tell... did my partner cheat on me... all of these important questions which are raised by herpes (in addition to the physical ones) are addressed in this book. If you read this book, you will be less risk to others, and you will have made important decisions about your life from an informed perspective. Don't delay... this is a wonderful book. ... Read more

Book Description

More than 160 leading international experts have joined forcesto provide coverage of essential aspects of contemporary cardiology --from molecular genetics, to preventive cardiology, to state-of-the-artinterventional cardiology techniques, to current health care policytrends that affect cardiovascular medicine.Each chapter is written byone or more recognized authorities, who review major controversies,provide personal perspectives, and project future developments over thenext five years. Coverage includes all the issues important to today'scardiologist, internal medicine specialist, and family practitioner,such as use of stents, how to perform a coronary angiogram, cardiologyin the managed care era, quality of cardiovascular medicine, andmedicolegal problems. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

All you need to know
A truly outstanding book. Being a big fan of the classic American textbooks I discovered this wonderful book just recently. Traditional medical knowledge, nothing less than what you have to know. Excellent not only for exams etc, but for everyday clinical practice. I have used extensively all the editions of Harrison's from the 8th till the current 15th, and I'll purchase the 16th as well, but now I know, what is important for my patients is really there. Masterly written, as if all the authors wanted to do was to put this amount of knowledge straight into our heads. I dont know if it is better than Kumar and Clarke, still Davidson's has the essense of the classic!

PJ Kumar is much better.
same old pattern and lacks indepth knowledge and descriptions.Pj Kumar is easy to read,contains current and up-to-date info and correlates Disease process,diagnoses and management.

S U P E R B !!
.
THIS IS BAR NONE THE BEST INTERNAL MEDICINE TEXT YOU CAN GET.

Easy to read, chock full of photos, color pictures, graphs, tables, and beautifully illustrated diagrams. even the most difficult concept can be grasped with ease.

ACHILLES HEEL - the spine - do not lay completely flat during the first week or so of use or when it is cold; it will pop.
I am on my third copy(despite the annoyance I keep going back b/c this book is so completely superior).

This last copy has lasted w/o problem for over a year so maybe the glue issue has been fixed.

Also -- british spelling -- a minor issue.
Hope the come out with an international ed.

hats off to the british!!!
having read a multitude of medical textbooks including harrison's, current medical diagnosis and treatment, cecil essentials i can honestly say that this is perhaps the BEST clinical textbook i have seen so far in my experience!

the book is a beautiful one to behold, complete with EXCELLENT diagrams of the clinical presentations of many diseases and fantastic charts of differentials as well as evidence-based medicine all in COLOR!!! i can't tell you how much easier this is on the eyes than slogging through page after page of grey text!

every chapter is organized in a similar fashion with the first two pages going over all the relevant parts of an exam in a specific specialty like cardiology, gastroenterology, etc. davidson's reviews some basic pathophysiology, pertinent studies within the field before launching into the various disease entities.

although the book is not nearly as comprehensive as harrison's principles of internal medicine, it's structured much better for those with limited amounts of reading time (i.e. medical students cramming for the next shelf exam, residents trying to catch up on their sleep, and even newly dubbed attendings who are expecting children!!!).

this book will SURELY help you prepare for those annoying attending stumper questions like: who can tell me all the extra-pulmonary manifestations of sarcoid? what are the exam findings in a dialysis patient?

no respectable internal medicine library should lack this book!

Enough information
I found it more usful to be use as reference book rather than for everyday reading in my your medicine rotation. Easy to understand and contains many pictures. Same as its brother (Kumar Clinical Medicine) ... Read more

Book Description

This is a single source for accurate and unbiased information on the many complementary and alternative medicines that can help manage some MS symptoms and promote general health. Readers will be able to: * find unconventional options for therapy; * learn of potentially dangerous interactions between alternative therapies and medical treatments; * identify therapies that are effective, low risk, and inexpensive; * recognize ineffective, dangerous, or costly alternative therapies. A section on Integrating Conventional and Unconventional Medicine links specific symptoms to potentially useful alternative therapies: If readers have, for example, spasticity or bladder problems, they can easily identify potentially useful alternative strategies. The book includes a glossary of popular supplements commonly used in MS care.Many general books deal with the general topic of alternative and complementary therapies, but most contain serious errors about their use in people with MS, and none specifically addresses the dangerous interactions that can occur between some therapies and the disease. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

An excellent starting point
To explore alternative medicine is to take a journey into aspects of healing that are outside of patentable pharmacology. The journey is easier with a map, but the map is only a starting point. When considering alternative medicine, we need to make our own decisions about approaches to health that often have not been studied in the way that patentable drugs have been studied. Even so, the journey should begin by learning what has previously been reported on the subject.

Dr. Bowling's book is a fist-rate description of the terrain of alternative medicine. Unlike other MS-specific books about alternative medicine, his is based on a review of published literature rather than on personal experience, anecdote and fancy.

Part of Dr. Bowling's accomplishment is that he has managed to catalogue a diverse and hard-to-define area. More imortantly, it describes, in succint and easy-to-understand and language, the published research that is available on about 40 different areas of alternative medicine.

Don't buy the book thinking there is a cure for MS to be found in its pages. On the other hand, if you are looking for a starting point for understanding alternative medicine, then this book is a useful resource.

Alternative Medicine and Multiple Sclerosis by Bowling
Multiple Sclerosis is a system that impacts the immune system
and the nervous system. There is a hereditary disposition to
the disease. The main damage involves lesions of the brain and
spinal cord. The disease may relapse and remit during various
phases. The drug Betaseron may be employed for MS to decrease
relapses in both length and severity. Alternative medicinal
protocols may be employed i.e. acupuncture, exercise,
biofeedback, chiropractic and massage therapy. Acupuncture has minor risks in the thoracic region for the lung and heart.
Propolis has been found to stimulate and suppress immune function.

A new area called Psychoneuroimmunology has developed which
impacts both the nervous system and the immune system.
Chelation therapy removes plaque from the blood vessels.
Chiropractic has been known to help MS sufferers because low
back pain is reduced with gentle manipulation.

Dental amalgum implications may be present in arthritis, lupus,
Parkinson's and brain tumor. Decreases in dietary fat may assist
MS sufferers. Gamma Linoleic Acid supresses excess immune
system activity. Enzyme therapy improves both digestion and
the breakdown of complex food groups. i.e. protein
Certain exercises i.e. horseback riding improves the pelvis.
This book is an excellent supplementary reference for MS
sufferers. It will complement any formal program of
pharmaceutical medicines in place.

Definition: A linoleic acid is a liquid unsaturated fatty acid
essential in animal nutrition. The chemical composition is:

C H O
18 30 2

Better than expected
After reading some of the reviews I hestitated on buying this. I had just been diagnosed with MS. I started taking the shots (and still am) but wanted to find other things that I could do. From the reviews I thought this would be an alternative medicine bashing book but its not. It states the facts as they are and shows pros and cons, leave a lot for the reader to consider. I found this to be a well-rounded book that had good info.

Alternative Medicine & MS
It does discuss a variety of alternative treatments for MS, but pretty well dismisses them all as either 1) ineffective but harmless or 2) ineffective and dangerous.

A good resource
I don't agree with the reviews that state this book as not being helpful. Obviously a MD is careful about recommending alternative therapies (and to do it in writing goes even farther against their grain.) With that said, Dr. Bowling includes a multitude of options and resources that any proactive patient would find of value. And he states right up front that he supports a complementary approach that uses western practices along with the alternative therapies. He offers fact, theory and opinion on these therapies (he's ok with just about every one that doesn't involve infusions/IVs, chemicals and the like) And yes, he has a bias for the ABC&Rebif drugs (and there's nothing wrong with that... I've read a lot of books written by alternative practioners who don't have anything good to say about western options/drugs; so one needs to consider the source and take a proactive approach to his/her own healing.) Just the section on Vitamins, Minerals & Other NonHerbal Supplements is worth it (having that info whittled down to 23 pages versus some oversized volume on the topic was great.) If you've gotten this far (meaning you're interested enough in this title to be reading the reviews), I say Go For It; one can never have enough info and if this book gives you just one new piece of information... then that's one more than what you started with. ... Read more

Book Description

The leading clinical reference on the diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders!Featuring contributions from more than 50 leaders in the field, the Second Edition has been revised to incorporate the latest genetic information and is the most current reference available. ... Read more

Book Description

This comprehensive text on human diseases is designed to be student friendly.It is organized in a logical, body system format, with each chapter starting with objectives and terminology.The chapters progress through a review of anatomy and physiology and then move into coverage of the most common diseases.It includes coverage of changes in the elderly and a summary with review questions at the end of each chapter. Special features, such as 'Health Highlights' and full color illustrations and photos have been added throughout to enhance student understanding. The appendix contains a glossary of terms with pronunciations.The text is concise, easy to follow, very portable, and highlights the essential information needed by the students.(Science, comprehensive, body system, health highlights, anatomy & physiology, human diseases) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A comprehensive reference--not to be read cover to cover
An excellent, exhaustive, tome on infectious disease. The authors provide detailed information in small, manageable bits. The down sides are the cost and the size. ... Read more

Book Description

This important text, thoroughly updated and rewritten, continues to offer a unique overview of the field of HIV pathogenesis.Since the first successful edition in 1994, substantial advances have been made in many aspects of HIV and AIDS research, including the fields of epidemiology and transmission, humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, and HIV-associated cancers.Comprehensive, lucid, and extensively annotated, this book presents the most current knowledge on the many aspects of HIV infection and control.The reference section, greatly expanded, is the most definitive presentation of HIV/AIDS literature available.Brief biographies spotlight scientists and physicians who played a pioneering role in AIDS research and medicine. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

HIV and the pathogenesis of AIDS
This is really excellent book about HIV. It is easy to understand but contains nearly all advanced recent topics including history, immunology and pathogenesis of HIV. Especially for the students who study HIV, this is the best reference for general and specific knowledge. ... Read more

Book Description

This comprehensive text describes the diseases associated with water, their causative agents and the ways in which they gain access to water systems. It also details the methods for detecting and identifying waterborne microorganisms, the ways in which they are removed from water, and the risks they present to water users.This handbook will serve as an indispensable reference for public health microbiologists, water utility scientists, research water pollution microbiologists environmental health officers, consultants in communicable disease control and microbial water pollution students.

* In-depth accounts of the micro-organisms which are of significance to public health
* Highlights the basic microbiology, clinical features, survival in the environment, and gives a risk assessment for each pathogen
* Relates the pathogens to water pollution in a practical and research orientated way
* Covers drinking water and both marine and freshwater recreational bathing waters ... Read more

Amazon.com

For all the devastation and suffering AIDS has caused worldwide, we have devoted surprisingly little attention to its beginnings. Former UN official and BBC correspondent Edward Hooper hopes to find the source of AIDS in The River, a stunningly comprehensive yet deeply engaging scientific history of the disease. Through more than 10 years of research comprising over 600 interviews and untold hours of library work, Hooper has uncovered a complex, interlocking set of stories--of scientific research, of medical assistance to the Third World, of political and economic exigencies that drive the courses of our lives--and brought them together in over 1,000 pages of text, footnotes, references, and illustrations.

His thesis, that HIV made the jump from simians to humans via the administration of oral polio vaccine in Africa in the 1950s, is still controversial, but his arguments are powerful, broad, and undeniable--all that is lacking is conclusive proof.Like a good scientist (and, sad to say, unlike any HIV researcher to date), he offers several easy tests of his hypothesis.His tales of brilliant epidemiological deductions, biochemical comparisons, and physiological insights ought to convince the medical establishment that the answer can and should be found, both to help us deal with the current crisis and to keep us from creating new ones of its ilk. In a litigation-weary world, though, it seems that it will take the kind of tireless, impartial research found in The River to show us--and our leaders--that blame should take a back seat to truth when extreme circumstances demand it. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (40)

A word of caution
A wonderful book which clearly explains some intriguing, if unproven, theories. As much a cautionary tale as a scientific work.

In reference to the Clinical Infectious Diseases article (2001;32:1068-1084), it should be noted that the author of this article was one of the scientists possibly implicated by this book.

Hooper experienced many roadblocks during his research for the book and many of them were placed before him by eminent scientists who preferred not to get involved in a book which might harm the reputation of their profession by suggesting that it may have been responsible (accidentally or otherwise) for disastrous wrongdoing during the development of the OPV.

In the article, the author acknowledges the assistance and input from many of his colleagues in the scientific profession. Personally, I believe this is further proof that the medical/scientific community are more than happy to work together to protect the reputation of their profession but are less inclined to involve themselves in a project aiming to reveal the truth, no matter how horrifying and sinister that truth may turn out to be.

Reads like a literary mystery
Though a long, complex, and technical book, THE RIVER held my daily interest until I had finished it. A masterpiece of investigative journalism written by a man with high interpersonal intelligence who understands the human side of science and its pitfalls. Hooper discusses other possible dangers of cross-species transfer of viruses in the use of transplanted animal parts in humans. Science, Hooper demonstrates, must include careful documentation, followup, and open, honest discussion. A rush to solutions can be more dangerous than the original problem. A must read for anyone in public health or concerned with the AIDS epidemic.

This Theory is Refuted ... YET AGAIN
Conspiracy theorists are entitled to their own ramblings in their own fantasy land. However, when it negatively impacts humanity, (in this case, global polio eradication), and the conspiracy theorist earns profits from his book with tiresome resurrections of the issue, one must start looking at the hard facts. The scientific community has already invested an immense volume of resources (including direct analysis of the OPV stocks in question) to address this theory, and every evidence contradicted the scenario laid out in this book.

The latest counterproof emerges from a study which directly analyzed the chimpanzees in the Kisangani area. The approach was sanctioned by no other than the late Bill Hamilton, who initiated the first expedition in the area, being convinced that it is the most direct way to address this theory once and for all. After much toil (3 expeditions mounted, one of which Bill Hamilton himself perished from malaria), it was found that the chimpanzees in the area have a distinct virus strain that was most closely related to those found in Gombe National Park in Tanzania than to the HIV-1 strains infecting people right now. Thus, the Kisangani SIVcpz, and therefore any polio vaccine that may have been prepared there, could not have been the source of HIV-1. (...)

Well written and extrememly convincing, but . . .
While this book was well written and very convincing, it has since been proven wrong.

Modern experimental evidence conducted and obtained since the book was published (and because it was published) has all but debunked Hooper's theory.

For those interested, I suggest going to a medical or collge library and reading the following paper for a good review of the scientific data:

"CHAT oral polio vaccine was not the source of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 group M for humans."

Clinical Infectious Diseases    2001;32:1068-1084

Hooper's work is an excellent example of how, if one is not careful, one can interpret data to mean anything one wants it to.

Compelling and frightening
Is it possible that an experimental vaccine against polio gave HIV to the world and resulted in the death of millions of people (and millions more yet to come)?

Edward Hooper argues this theoretical possibility and backs it up with exhaustive research, years of travelling around the world interviewing the chief protagonists, other scientists and eyewitnesses and provides a compelling (if circumstantial) case that this may, indeed, have been how HIV was visited upon the human race.

The sciences of virology, molecular biology and genetics are broken down into bite-sized pieces so that the untrained reader is able to follow the theory to its logical conclusion.

However, the greatest value in this book is that it gives a frightening picture of what goes on behind the scenes in science labs everywhere and in the minds leading scientists at times when there is a race to find a cure for some human disease - the competitiveness which sees scientists fudging the reporting of experimental methods and results in order not to give too much away to their opponents and of leaping forwards too fast and often unethically, to be the first to "come up with the goods".

There are many lessons to be learned in this book, the most pertinent of which is that we haven't learned from our mistakes of the past - xenotransplantation involving tissues and whole organs from other animal species are still being used experimentally in humans, and the potential is there to perhaps unleash something even more frightening than HIV onto the human race in the future.

Also, the closing of scientific ranks behind the scientists involved (especially the use of the law to stifle debate) is an unwelcome development. If the theory is impossible or highly unlikely, then prove it scientifically - from what I have seen and read, many spurious arguments are being used to counter this theory and all of them fail to hold up under close scrutiny.

We may never know for sure the origins of HIV, but all theories need to be debated rationally and examined in critical detail. I suspect that after this, the OPV theory will be the one that holds up the best.

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Who needs Stephen King when there are such real-life horrors as those described in Dr. Frank Ryan's new book, Virus X to keep sleep at bay? Such exotic killers as Ebola and Necrotizing Fasciitis rub elbows with more familiar, if no less potentially lethal, diseases like tuberculosis as Dr. Ryan constructs a well-researched and well-written study that reads more like a thriller than a science book.The heroes are the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines of plague as well as the researchers at laboratories such as the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia; the enemies are the myriad new viruses and virulent new strains of old viruses that are emerging in ever greater numbers as this century wears to a close.

Dr. Ryan's answer for why so many plagues are ravaging the world these days is simple but chilling: a huge explosion in population (6 billion people alive today versus 1.5 billion a century ago) and the resulting destruction of habitats has brought human beings into contact with aggressive viruses that once lived beyond our reach; our global transportation systems spread them.Virus X is not the first book to raise these issues, but it's a comprehensive one, making for gripping, frightening reading. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Riveting, informative read
As someone only peripherally involved with epidemiology and public health, I found Ryan's book an entirely fascinating read, and nowhere near as sensationalist as the title might have implied. Not only for its suspenseful chronology of how the courage and tenacity of epi researchers has us closer to understanding these natural threats, but also for the countless "aha" moments it offers on how viruses actually live and work.

Ryan strikes a good balance between readability and credibility, using both layman's terms and (as far as I can tell with the help of the MD/epidemiologist in the family) accurate use of the appropriate lingo for his subject matter.

Basing his narrative on actual outbreaks of different types has helped Ryan create easily accessible self-contained sections that make the book an easy bedsider.

A very new perspective on emerging viruses.
Recently, several new books have been written on the subject of emerging viruses. They all ask questions about where these viruses are coming from, why they are infecting humans so rapidly, and what we can do to better control or prevent these outbreaks. Several interesting theories have been presented, however Ryan proposes an entirely different perspective of aggressive symbiosis. His theory is extremely sensible as well as a shocking eye-opener about out interactions with nature. If you choose to read this book (and I highly recommend that you do) please try and appreceate the scientific value of it as well as the "Stephen King" side

Excellent read!
This author gives a lot of information about how doctors with NOTHING, battling plagues in the wilds of Africa, are forced to improvise equipment.

He discusses what to look for in different diseases in Autopsies, safeguards, etc... He talks about docs performing autopsies outside on the ground, in the dirt, in the rain.

He discusses little known facts about projects USAMRIID has been working on (Counters to weaponized Ebola that the Russians have) and other little known facts like that the Ebola outbreak in Reston VA was Spread by Aerosol! It just happened not to be a strain that was easy to catch by humans (Even though lab workers ALL suddenly showed antibodies to Ebola in their blood, and several got "flu like symptoms" from it). I Was always lead to believe that the workers "Coincidently got the flu".. not true, they had a mild case of Ebola!

He talks about 1st world close calls, like the little girl returning to Britain on a mail plane with a doctor that was sick from Ebola (The Doc died).. even though she was in close physical contact with him, miraculously, she didn't catch it.. There have been SEVERAL of these close calls in several countries, the USA included.

He also discusses how diseases suddenly "pop up out of no where" as Asians and Africans move into more remote regions. They STILL do not know what animal host carries Ebola. Ebola is a HIGHLY mutable disease, which is why the Russians grabbed it for Bio-weapons... He predicts we'll see it many more times in the future.

For some reason, Americans think that "maybe a few hundred people have died from Ebola".. this is not true.. there have been several outbreaks in Africa, killing MANY THOUSANDS and forcing troops to quarentine whole cities.

***** Excellent book. A little dated now (Copyright 1997) but the info is solid. What makes it more believable it that the Trends he forecast in 1997 have come true.. like Species jumping viruses, Human/Bird viruses.

It's VERY easy to read. He gets technical, but he explains what the technical stuff means in such a way in the stories that before you realize it, you are reading the technical info with full comprehension without realizing that you learned it... Kinda makes you proud of yourself ;) What's more, you begin to anticipate what the Doctors in the stories should do... "Hey, he needs to run an ELIZA test from a Capture Assay! What idiot still uses a primitive fluorescent label? Look for the fixed antibody enzyme and then compare the color change bud!" *****

3 1/2 *'s for a well-told tale with missing pieces
The author presents an enjoyable, well-researched account of the emergence, identification and handling of killer viruses. He provides an explanation of viruses as biological entities and goes on to contrast their destructive potential with the faltering infrastructure that even the affluent nations have to deal with them.

Needed is a more precise targeting of text to the generalist audience; his biological treatises can be a bit much. Also needed is more extrapolation on what the viruses' killer potential might mean for mankind and potential remedies or alleviatives -- which is what the book advertises itself as addressing.

Just the Facts Ma'am.
A highly informative book about viruses, how and why they are spread, in some cases their epidemiology and much about their evolution. Thankfully, very little is given over to speculation here, at least as compared to other books I've read on the subject. The information in this book is offered in a completely straightforward (and sometimes very boring) way. You will learn some fascinating new facts, but not have to suffer through scare tactics, just a yawn or two. The book put me to sleep a few times, but was still worth the read. The book contains some interesting viral history and global implications to ponder as well. No entertainment here though, it's just the facts. ... Read more