Bacterial Meningitis

From The Critics

Reviewer: Andrew Mark Morris, MD, MSc, FRCPC(McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences)
Description: This book offers a thorough overview of all clinically relevant aspects of bacterial meningitis.
Purpose: "The book strives to be a detailed, authoritative, and state-of-the-art reference on bacterial meningitis. Surprisingly, the author achieves his lofty goal, producing a work that covers the topic of bacterial meningitis in enough detail to satisfy the infectious disease specialist or neurologist, yet is accessible to emergency physicians and residents, who will find it easy to find the "bottom line" (and be enticed to read more along the way). "
Audience: It is targeted at infectious disease specialists, intensivists, neurologists, emergency physicians, and residents in these various specialties.
Features: There are 10 chapters covering topics such as history, pathogenesis, and pathophysiology, and clinical topics such as physical findings, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Welcome additional chapters cover both the history of bacterial meningitis, as well as a look to the future of meningitis. Although there are larger tomes which cover neurological infections or infections of the central nervous system, a concise book focused on bacterial meningitis is a welcome (and successful) addition to the literature.
Assessment: Because this is a single-authored work, there is little or no repetition among the chapters and a consistent format is used throughout. The only criticism centers on the limited use of figures (which are all black and white) that are confined to microscopy or radiographic images. Nevertheless, this should prove a welcome addition to the library of anyone wishing to learn more about meningitis.

Jerry D. Smilack

Bacterial Meningitis is an excellent resource for the beginning student of central nervous system infection and a treasure chest for the practicing physician who feels a need to brush up on the subject. Material is well organized, eminently readable, and current.
— Journal of American Medical Association

Booknews

Summarizes and analyzes what is known about bacterial meningitis. Epidemiological sections address the international relevance of the disease and the impact of the regional emergence of resistant organisms. Clinical chapters examine the typical presentations of meningitis and explore factors such as age, pathogen, and comorbidity. Diagnostic sections analyze diagnostic modalities and offer recommendations as to specificity and sensitivity. Discussions of therapy integrate animal data with individual clinical studies and with meta-analyses. There is also a history of the disease and material on prevention and future trends. Tunkel is professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Medicine, and director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, at MCP Hahnemann University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

3 Stars from Doody