| Author | David I. Grove |
| Language | English |
| ISBN | 9780199641024 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Pages | 602 |
| Size | 234 x 156mm |
| Format | Hardcover |
| Images | 200 black-and-white photos |
| Year published | 2013 |
From tapeworms and lice to fungi and down to tiny viruses, we are surrounded by agents of infectious disease which can be caught from other people, animals, and the environment. The variety of such agents is enormous and their methods of infection often ingenious. Some have life cycles that also involve non-human hosts. The discovery of these agents of disease has involved luck and accident as well as dedication, even on occassion to the point of self-experimentation. David Ian Grove brings together here the stories of most of the major infectious agents, describing their nature, how they were discovered, and the lives of their discoverers. The result is Tapeworms, Lice, and Prions, a compendium full of fascinating accounts of the discoveries that have profoundly altered medicine over the past two centuries.
We have come a long way, but surprises have come even very recently, with the discovery of the rogue proteins known as prions, which are infectious agents that are not living and do not even contain DNA or RNA, unlike viruses. And antibiotic resistance is proving an urgent problem. As the arms race continues against rapidly evolving viruses and bacteria, the stories of our battles with agents of infectious disease are far from over.
Contents of Tapeworms, Lice, and Prions
Worms
1: Ascaris - the giant intestinal roundworm
2: Tapeworms
3: Hookworm anaemia
4: Schistosomiasis (sometimes called Bilharziasis)
5: Filariasis (elephantiasis)
Arthropods
6: Lice (pediculosis)
7: The itch (scabies)
Fungi
8: Tinea (ringworm etc)
9: Candida (thrush)
Protozoa
10: Giardiasis
11: Amoebic dysentery and liver abscess
12: Malaria
13: Sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis)
14: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (Oriental sore) and visceral leishmaniasis (kala azar)
15: Chagas' disease (South American trypanosomiasis)
Bacteria
16: The germ theory of disease
17: Anthrax
18: Tuberculosis (consumption)
19: Leprosy (Hansen's disease)
20: The golden staphylococcus
21: The streptococcus and post-streptococcal disorders
22: The pneumococcus and pneumonia
23: Gonorrhoea (the clap)
24: Syphilis (the pox)
25: The meningococcus and meningitis
26: Diphtheria
27: Whooping cough (pertussis)
28: Cholera
29: Typhoid fever
30: Escherichi coli
31: Shigella (bacillary dysentery)
32: Tetanus (lockjaw)
33: Plague (the Black Death)
34: Brucellosis (undulant fever)
35: Legionnaires' disease
36: Helicobacter pylori and peptic ulcers
37: Typhus
38: Chlamydia (urethritis and trachoma)
Viruses
39: The discovery of viruses and determination of their nature
40: Smallpox
41: Rabies
42: Yellow fever
43: Dengue fever (break-bone fever)
44: Poliomyelitis (polio)
45: Measles (rubeola)
46: German measles (rubella)
47: Mumps
48: Varicella (chickenpox and shingles
49: Herpes simplex (cold sores and more)
50: Glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis)
51: Influenza (the flu)
52: Viral hepatitis (A, B, and C)
53: HIV and AIDS
Prions
54: Kuru, Mad cows and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease
IX. Unde venis et quo vadis?
References
Glossary and pronunciation
Further reading
Person Index
Subject index
