Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases

This book, weighing eight pounds, with 208 contributors, constitutes an encyclopedic approach to the problems of infectious diseases in humans.The first section, 333 pages, is concerned with basic principles and includes components on virulence and defense mechanisms, epidemiology, use of the laboratory and a detailed discussion on the anti-infective agents.The second section, 464 pages, deals with approaches to the major clinical syndromes ranging from fever to central nervous system infections to diseases of the reproductive organs and sexually transmitted diseases.The third section, 803 pages, contains descriptions of “… all important pathogenia microbes for man and the diseases they cause” (Preface, first edition). Under nearly every major heading (the subdivisions are not identical in format) there are entries concerning history, infectious agent, pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical features, therapy and prevention.The final section, 103 pages, concerns nosocomial infections, disease in compromised hosts, immunizations and advice to travelers.