Authority on AIDS | |
The AIDS knowledge base. A textbook on HIV disease from the University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital. 3rd edition. PT Cohen, Merle A Sande, Paul A Volberding, editors. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins 1999 (xxiii+966pp.). ISBN: 0 316 14903 9. |
Having contributed chapters to the first two editions of The AIDS knowledge base, I was naturally curious to review the third edition of the book. The first change in the third edition is evident on the cover. Sadly, one of the previous editors, Dr Conny Wofsy, a compassionate HIV clinician and an internationally renowned clinical investigator, died after the second edition was published. Most of the contributors to this third edition work in San Francisco: in local hospitals, with the local health department, or in affiliated research institutes. With over 100 contributors, this reflects enormous expertise concentrated in one city. The AIDS knowledge base remains a cornerstone of HIV management as it provides a comprehensive review of most aspects of HIV medicine. The overall organisation of the current edition has not changed significantly in that the main sections of HIV medicine are all covered, as in the previous editions. There are, however, some major improvements. The book now boasts a more uniform page numbering system which is far easier to use than the fairly antiquated pagination used in previous editions. In addition, small sections have been integrated to form larger, more cohesive chapters. There are a number of new chapters, which cover methods and clinical use of viral load assays, the epidemiology of HIV-related cancers, and wasting. However, there appear to be some important omissions. For example, I could not find information relating to postexposure prophylaxis against sexual transmission of HIV. A chapter on the HIV-infected traveller would also have been useful. Suzanne M Crowe
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