Maladies and microbes on the road | |
Current diagnosis and treatment in infectious diseases. Walter R Wilson and Merle A Sande, editors. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001 (xix + 987 pp). ISBN 0-07-118185-3. |
I have somewhat unkindly carried this book around with me for the past month. If it could speak it would be a keen advocate for spring latches on car boots and briefcases. And while I have been unyielding in my scrutiny of the book’s usefulness in guiding me through the clinical month-that-was, Drs Wilson and Sande have edited a book that has doggedly refused, under pressure, to be anything but well-thought-out, sensible and clear.
One of the strengths of the book is its broad use of tables that clearly segregate the different considerations involved in clinical appraisal and decision-making. For example, in the chapter “Fever and rash” a table reminds the reader of both the more and the less frequent causative microbes in both adults and children. Another table in this chapter outlines the possible causative pathogen according to the type of rash encountered. Finally, the reader is sobered by considering fever and rashes according to whether they are life-threatening or not, whether they are treatable, or just plain non-infectious. I find this methodical problem-solving and treatment approach useful and I have no doubt that a busy general practitioner or emergency clinician would find it valuable also. Notably good chapters include “Infections in transplant recipients”, “Fever of unknown origin” and “Skin and soft tissue infections”. In addition to the clinical infectious diseases syndromes, the book also provides succinct chapters on individual microbes, viruses and fungi and their individual clinical signatures. The reader is spoon-fed when it comes to the actual treatment guidelines and recommendations. In addition, when consulting this book on antibiotic doses you may wish to be reassured that the print is legible, unlike that ubiquitous and dreadful Sanford antibiotic guide that Dr Sande also edits. Finally, and frankly, any book that so faithfully gives so many antibiotic alternatives for the penicillin-allergic is a friend for life. Edwina Wright
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