Infectious Diseases - Jon Cohen
Год выпуска: 2010Автор: Cohen J. et al. (eds.)
Жанр: Infectious diseases
Формат: PDF
Качество: OCR
Описание: Medical knowledge is constantly changing. Standard safety precautions must be followed, but as new research and clinical experience broaden our knowledge, changes in treatment and drug therapy may become necessary or appropriate. Readers are advised to check the most current product information provided by the manufacturer of each drug to be administered to verify the recommended dose, the method and duration of administration, and contraindications. It is the responsibility of the practitioner, relying on experience and knowledge of the patient, to determine dosages and the best treatment for each inpidual patient. Neither the Publisher nor the author assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from this publication.
These are extraordinary times in the fields of microbiology and infectious diseases. The genomes of essentially all the major bacterial and viral pathogens known to infect humankind have now been sequenced and are available on public databases. The human genome project is now complete and whole genome sequencing of the major malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the common fungal pathogen Candida albicans are now available on line. We have learned an enormous amount of new information about the molecular mechanisms that underlie microbial pathogenesis and the host response to pathogens since the second edition of this book some five years ago. An expanding number of antiviral and antifungal agents are now available to clinicians, and new generations of vaccine constructs and adjuvants are now entering clinical practice.
Despite these advances, progress has been uneven with very little in the developmental pipeline for novel antibacterial agents, antituberculosis drugs, or chemotherapeutic agents against parasitic infection. We find ourselves increasingly on the defensive against a variety of newly emerging and remerging pathogens. The specter of progressive antimicrobial resistance now threatens the long-term viability of the very foundation of our primary treatment approach against bacterial pathogens, including extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Our collective vulnerability to airborne pathogens within our highly mobile and crowded global community has become poignantly evident with the H1N1 swine flu pandemic of 2009 and ongoing threats of human dissemination of H5N1 avian influenza strains. Environmental disruption and global warming largely attributable to our ever expanding human population is likely to have adverse health consequences; among them with be the spread of vector-borne, waterborne and airborne pathogens.
In preparing this third edition we have continued the themes that initially inspired the creation of this textbook of Infectious Diseases. The book maintains its tradition of well illustrated and tightly referenced chapters with an emphasis on clinical practicality along with a detailed review of disease pathogenesis and microbiology. Practice points are found throughout the text that highlight common, and not so common, clinical scenarios that require specific and targeted information to provide informed responses. The interactive website, complete with its frequently updated information sources and a downloadable set of illustrations, will continue to support the print version of the text and now includes a number of innovative new functions. The whole text has been carefully reviewed, many chapters have been totally re-written with new figures added, and new authors and editors have been commissioned to ensure that the material is fresh, up to date and relevant.
We are indebted to the superb group of section editors and the extensive collection of highly skilled, international, contributors for each chapter, without whom the third edition of this book would not have been possible. We would especially like to extend our sincere gratitude to Sue Hodgson, Sven Pinczewski, Poppy Garraway and the staff at Elsevier for their unflappable spirit and their attention to detail throughout this considerable undertaking. Finally, we thank the Section Editors from the second edition who have now stood down: Steven Holland, Dennis Maki, Ragnar Norrby, Allan Ronald, Claus Solberg and Jan Verhoef without whom we would never have been in the position of preparing a third edition. We trust that our readers will find the readily accessible knowledge distilled into these pages to have been well worth the effort in generating the Third Edition of Infectious Diseases.
«Infectious Diseases»
- Introduction to infectious diseases
Syndromes by body system
Special problems in infectious disease practice
Infections in the immunocompromised host
HIV and AIDS
International medicine
Anti-infective therapy
Clinical microbiology