A field guide to germs

Book

A field guide to germs / Wayne Biddle.

Summary:

From the ravages of the Ebola virus in Zaire to outbreaks of pneumonic plague in India and drug-resistant TB in New York City, contagious diseases are fighting back against once-unconquerable modern medicine. Public concern about infectious disease is on the rise as newspapers trumpet the arrivals of new germs and the reemergence of old ones. In this book, the author brings readers face to face with nearly one hundred of the best-known (in terms of prevalence, power, historical importance, or even literary interest) of the myriad pathogens that live in and around the human population. Along with physical descriptions of the organisms and the afflictions they cause, he provides folklore, philosophy, history, and such illustrations as nineteenth century drawings of plague-induced panic, microscopic photographs of HIV and Ebola, and wartime posters warning servicemen against syphilis and gonorrhea. From cholera to chlamydia, TB to HIV, bubonic plague to Lyme disease, rabies to Congo-Crimean encephalitis, anthrax to Zika fever, and back to good old rhinitis (the common cold), this book is both a handy reference work to better understand today's headlines and a fascinating look at the astonishing impact of micro-organisms on social and political history.

Record details

ISBN: 140003051X
ISBN: 9781400030514
Physical Description: xiv, 209 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Edition: 2nd Anchor Books ed.
Publisher: New York : Anchor Books, c2002.

Content descriptions

General Note:: Previously published: New York : Henry Holt and Co., 1995.
Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-194) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: Adenoviruses -- Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) -- Arboviruses -- Arenaviruses -- Bites -- Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough) -- Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) -- Brucella -- Campylobacter -- Candida albicans -- Chikungunya/o'nyong-nyong viruses -- Chinese restaurant syndrome -- Chlamydia -- Cholera (Vibrio cholerae) -- Clostridium -- Congo-Crimean/Rift Valley/California/St. Louis viruses -- Coronaviruses -- Cryptosporidium -- Cytomegaloviruses -- Dengue -- Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) -- Dysentery -- E. coli -- Ehrlichia -- Enterococcus -- Enteroviruses -- Epstein-Barr virus -- Fort Bragg (Leptospira) -- Giardia lamblia -- Hantaviruses -- Helicobacter pylori -- Hemophilus -- Hepatitis -- Herpes -- HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) -- Influenza (flu) -- Legionella -- Listeria monocytogenes -- Mad cow -- Marburg/Ebola viruses -- Measles -- Mumps -- Mycobacteria -- Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea) -- Neisseria meningitidis -- Papillomaviruses -- Parainfluenza viruses/respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) -- Plasmodium (malaria) -- Pneumococcus -- Polio -- Q fever -- Rabies -- Rhinoviruses -- Rickettsia -- Rocky Mountain spotted fever -- Rotavirus/Norwalk -- Salmonella -- San Joaquin fever (Coccidioides immitis) -- Slapped cheek disease (parvovirus B19) -- Smallpox -- Staphylococcus -- Streptococcus -- Syphilis (Treponema pallidum) -- Tinea -- Trichinella -- Tuberculosis -- Typhoid (Salmonella typhi) -- Typhus -- Varicella-zoster virus -- West Nile virus -- Worms -- Yellow fever -- Yersinia pestis (plague) -- Zika fever.