The New Killer Diseases

The New Killer Diseases PDF Author: Elinor Levy
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307422216
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
Protect yourself and your family from the threat of emerging diseases with a detailed, gripping exploration of the dangerous microbes we’re up against, from a respected immunologist and veteran science author—with a new Epilogue by the authors “[Levy and Fischetti] excel at describing the sleuthing and science that helped to break the code on emerging infections.”—Los Angeles Times All around us—in our homes, workplaces, and public spaces—bacteria and viruses are evolving at a feverish rate, and our best defenses against them are in danger of being overwhelmed. The threat posed by an emerging outbreak is as formidable as any challenge the human race has ever faced, and the evolutionary scales may be tipping in favor of the microbes. From mad cow disease and Asian bird flu to SARS, West Nile virus, and Ebola, more than thirty new diseases have arisen since the 1970s; and old scourges, from plague to tuberculosis, have reemerged in more dangerous forms. But how imminent, really, is the danger? Through riveting patient information and a behind-the-scenes tour of the health care system, Levy and Fischetti reveal: • How we’ve managed to contain certain epidemics, while allowing others to rage out of control • Why the demand for vaccines too often exceeds the supply, and why it took the FDA thirty-four years to approve the first new class of antibiotics since 1965. • How new infectious diseases manifest themselves, symptoms to watch for, and how to get a correct diagnosis in time • The latest scientific developments, from new genetic techniques to promising drug programs that might allow us to beat back the microbe menace. The New Killer Diseases will leave you fully informed about the true extent of the threat we face and what you can do to help minimize risk of a pandemic.

The New Killer Diseases

The New Killer Diseases PDF Author: Elinor Levy
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307422216
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Get Book

Book Description
Protect yourself and your family from the threat of emerging diseases with a detailed, gripping exploration of the dangerous microbes we’re up against, from a respected immunologist and veteran science author—with a new Epilogue by the authors “[Levy and Fischetti] excel at describing the sleuthing and science that helped to break the code on emerging infections.”—Los Angeles Times All around us—in our homes, workplaces, and public spaces—bacteria and viruses are evolving at a feverish rate, and our best defenses against them are in danger of being overwhelmed. The threat posed by an emerging outbreak is as formidable as any challenge the human race has ever faced, and the evolutionary scales may be tipping in favor of the microbes. From mad cow disease and Asian bird flu to SARS, West Nile virus, and Ebola, more than thirty new diseases have arisen since the 1970s; and old scourges, from plague to tuberculosis, have reemerged in more dangerous forms. But how imminent, really, is the danger? Through riveting patient information and a behind-the-scenes tour of the health care system, Levy and Fischetti reveal: • How we’ve managed to contain certain epidemics, while allowing others to rage out of control • Why the demand for vaccines too often exceeds the supply, and why it took the FDA thirty-four years to approve the first new class of antibiotics since 1965. • How new infectious diseases manifest themselves, symptoms to watch for, and how to get a correct diagnosis in time • The latest scientific developments, from new genetic techniques to promising drug programs that might allow us to beat back the microbe menace. The New Killer Diseases will leave you fully informed about the true extent of the threat we face and what you can do to help minimize risk of a pandemic.

Brain Fever: How Vaccines Prevent Meningitis And Other Killer Diseases

Brain Fever: How Vaccines Prevent Meningitis And Other Killer Diseases PDF Author: Richard Moxon
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 1786349892
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
In Brain Fever, the internationally renowned medical scientist, Richard Moxon FRS, shares his experiences of bacterial meningitis, a fearful and devastating infection of the brain. In a clear, non-technical style, he explains what meningitis is, what causes it, who gets it and how research has come up with vaccines that can prevent it.A paediatrician, Moxon engages the reader in a compelling story of how chance, opportunity and passion drew him into researching the bacteria that are the dangerous assassins of unsuspecting, previously healthy people, especially young children. Moxon traces the story of his involvement as one of the extraordinary and inspiring group of scientists who pioneered a milestone in medical history: the development of vaccines to prevent bacterial meningitis.In this must-read book, Brain Fever provides expert insight into what it takes to develop a vaccine. As we are learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vaccines that we rely on to fight and overcome the devastation caused by virulent pathogens. His message is clear and challenging: no other intervention in the history of medicine confers a greater public health benefit than immunisation.This book is a 2022 Nautilus Book Awards winner.This book is a 2021 Best Book Award-Winning Finalist (sponsored by American Book Fest).Related Link(s)

Smallpox: The Death of a Disease

Smallpox: The Death of a Disease PDF Author: D. A. Henderson, M.D.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592230X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
For more than 3000 years, hundreds of millions of people have died or been left permanently scarred or blind by the relentless, incurable disease called smallpox. In 1967, Dr. D.A. Henderson became director of a worldwide campaign to eliminate this disease from the face of the earth. This spellbinding book is Dr. Henderson’s personal story of how he led the World Health Organization’s campaign to eradicate smallpox—the only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated. Some have called this feat "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century." In a lively, engrossing narrative, Dr. Henderson makes it clear that the gargantuan international effort involved more than straightforward mass vaccination. He and his staff had to cope with civil wars, floods, impassable roads, and refugees as well as formidable bureaucratic and cultural obstacles, shortages of local health personnel and meager budgets. Countries across the world joined in the effort; the United States and the Soviet Union worked together through the darkest cold war days; and professionals from more than 70 nations served as WHO field staff. On October 26, 1976, the last case of smallpox occurred. The disease that annually had killed two million people or more had been vanquished–and in just over ten years. The story did not end there. Dr. Henderson recounts in vivid detail the continuing struggle over whether to destroy the remaining virus in the two laboratories still that held it. Then came the startling discovery that the Soviet Union had been experimenting with smallpox virus as a biological weapon and producing it in large quantities. The threat of its possible use by a rogue nation or a terrorist has had to be taken seriously and Dr. Henderson has been a central figure in plans for coping with it. New methods for mass smallpox vaccination were so successful that he sought to expand the program of smallpox immunization to include polio, measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines. That program now reaches more than four out of five children in the world and is eradicating poliomyelitis. This unique book is to be treasured—a personal and true story that proves that through cooperation and perseverance the most daunting of obstacles can be overcome.

The New Killer Germs

The New Killer Germs PDF Author: Pete Moore
Publisher: Carlton Publishing Group
ISBN: 9781844423521
Category : Biological weapons
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From anthrax to smallpox and SARS to West Nile virus, The New Germ Killers examines current developments in resistance and genetic engineering, and is a must-have guide to understanding some of society's greatest fears.

Killer Germs

Killer Germs PDF Author: Barry Zimmerman
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071409262
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Everything readers ever wanted to know about deadly viruses, killer parasites, flesh-eating microbes, and other lifethreatening beasties but were afraid to ask What disease, known as "the White Death" has killed 2 billion people, and counting? What fatal disease lurks undetected in air conditioners and shower heads, waiting to become airborne? How lethal is the Ebola virus, and will there ever be a cure for it? How do you catch flesh-eating bacteria? Killer Germs takes readers on a fascinating (sometimes horrifying) journey into the amazing world of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and worms and explores the roles they have played in shaping the course of human history. From biblical plagues, to the AIDS crisis, to supergerms of the future, this updated and revised edition of the original covers the whole gamut of diseases that have threatened humanity since its origins. It also includes a new chapter on the history of bioterrorism and the deplorable role it has played and is likely to play in the phenomenal diversity of diseases.

Phantom Plague

Phantom Plague PDF Author: Vidya Krishna
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9354925758
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
The definitive social history of tuberculosis, from its origins as a haunting mystery to its modern reemergence that now threatens populations around the world. It killed novelist George Orwell, Eleanor Roosevelt, and millions of others-rich and poor. Desmond Tutu, Amitabh Bachchan, and Nelson Mandela survived it, just. For centuries, tuberculosis has ravaged cities and plagued the human body. In Phantom Plague, Vidya Krishnan, traces the history of tuberculosis from the slums of 19th-century New York to modern Mumbai. In a narrative spanning century, Krishnan shows how superstition and folk-remedies, made way for scientific understanding of TB, such that it was controlled and cured in the West. The cure was never available to black and brown nations. And the tuberculosis bacillus showed a remarkable ability to adapt-so that at the very moment it could have been extinguished as a threat to humanity, it found a way back, aided by authoritarian government, toxic kindness of philanthropists, science denialism and medical apartheid. Krishnan's original reporting paints a granular portrait of the post-antibiotic era as a new, aggressive, drug resistant strain of TB takes over. Phantom Plague is an urgent, riveting and fascinating narrative that deftly exposes the weakest links in our battle against this ancient foe.

Virus Ground Zero

Virus Ground Zero PDF Author: Edward Regis
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 067102325X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
An acclaimed science writer takes readers behind the scenes at the Centers for Disease Control to tell the story of an engrossing odyssey across the viral frontier.

Pandemic

Pandemic PDF Author: Pete Moore
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 9780806528182
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Examines the threat of epidemics and pandemics in modern society, covering how they are spread, past and current treatment options, the impact of antibiotics, and a historical view of infectious disease.

Virus X

Virus X PDF Author: Frank Ryan
Publisher: Back Bay Books
ISBN: 9780316763066
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
AIDS, Ebola, "mad cow disease," "flesh-eating" viruses...Today's newspapers are full of articles about new plagues & viruses. Where do these new viruses come from? Why do new plagues arise? Could there be - will there be - a lethal & incurable Virus X that spreads as easily as the common cold? The author, a renowned authority on diseases, presents a radical theory about the origin of deadly microbes in a book that takes us into the "hot zones" of today's most dangerous viral outbreaks, then into the research labs & hospitals where doctors & scientists are risking their lives trying to control them.

Fever!

Fever! PDF Author: John Grant Fuller
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description