Mechanisms of Microbial Disease

From The Critics

Reviewer: Sue C. Kehl, PhD, D(ABMM)(Medical College of Wisconsin)
Description: This book is a discussion of the vast area of medical microbiology and infectious disease in a pathobiological framework and in the context of clinical cases. This edition reflects the many changes that have taken place since publication of the first edition in 1989.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a conceptual framework of bacterial pathogenesis and infectious disease. Certain infectious agents and diseases are highlighted, but this is not an exhaustive reference. Adequate detail is provided to illustrate the key concepts.
Audience: This book is intended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, medical students, and other health professionals, especially medical technology students. It is well suited for use in courses on medical microbiology and infectious disease. The simplistic style and discussion of some topics (e.g., the immune response to infection) may be somewhat superficial for graduate students in medical microbiology or infectious disease fellows. The editors are highly reputable and the contribuors are all experts in their field.
Features: The first section of the book presents a broad overview of bacterial pathogenesis and the host's immune system and response to infection. The major infectious agents are presented as biological models in the second section of the book. In these sections, general principles that are best illustrated with the agents described in that chapter, are presented as "paradigms." Paradigms are applicable to other infectious agents as well. Each chapter concludes with study questions. Following each group of infectious agents are review charts that the student can complete to organize the materials and prepare for examinations. The third section of the text presents the ways in which the major systems of the body are affected by infectious disease. Case studies highlight these points.
Assessment: The key mechanisms of microbial disease are covered in detail in this text. It is written in a simple, easy to understand style. Utilization of case studies brings many of these key ideas to life for students.

Sue C. Kehl

This book is a discussion of the vast area of medical microbiology and infectious disease in a pathobiological framework and in the context of clinical cases. This edition reflects the many changes that have taken place since publication of the first edition in 1989. The purpose is to provide a conceptual framework of bacterial pathogenesis and infectious disease. Certain infectious agents and diseases are highlighted, but this is not an exhaustive reference. Adequate detail is provided to illustrate the key concepts. This book is intended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, medical students, and other health professionals, especially medical technology students. It is well suited for use in courses on medical microbiology and infectious disease. The simplistic style and discussion of some topics (e.g., the immune response to infection) may be somewhat superficial for graduate students in medical microbiology or infectious disease fellows. The editors are highly reputable and the contribuors are all experts in their field. The first section of the book presents a broad overview of bacterial pathogenesis and the host's immune system and response to infection. The major infectious agents are presented as biological models in the second section of the book. In these sections, general principles that are best illustrated with the agents described in that chapter, are presented as ""paradigms."" Paradigms are applicable to other infectious agents as well. Each chapter concludes with study questions. Following each group of infectious agents are review charts that the student can complete to organize the materials and prepare for examinations. The third section of thetext presents the ways in which the major systems of the body are affected by infectious disease. Case studies highlight these points. The key mechanisms of microbial disease are covered in detail in this text. It is written in a simple, easy to understand style. Utilization of case studies brings many of these key ideas to life for students.

Booknews

This text/reference discusses infectious agents as biological models and then presents ways in which the major systems of the body are affected by these diseases. It does not attempt to present the material in exhaustive fashion. Readers should be generally familiar with basic aspects of molecular and cellular biology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

3 Stars from Doody