“Gives the reader the feeling of being granted a ringside seat to an exciting series of events. . . .This eminent scientist and writer conveys his enthusiasm for the subject. . . .He has managed to entertain, educate, and enthuse without either trivializing the complexity of the subject or underestimating the intelligence of the reader.” —British Medical JournalDr. Desowitz describes the revolutionary discoveries made by Jenner, Pasteur, Metchnikoff, and E...

"[Desowitz's] stories...rank among the best current examples of medical detective prose."—BooklistTwenty years ago the world slept, confident that biomedical science would protect it from devastating plagues. Our wake-up call sounded at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Then came more unfamiliar pathogens in its wake, such as the West Nile virus. Meanwhile, the neglected diseases of the third world, including malaria and African sleeping sickness, festere...

We live in a medical fool's paradise, comforted, believing our sanitized Western world is safe from the microbes and parasites of the tropics. Not so, nor was it ever so.Past--and present--tell us that tropical diseases are as American as the heart attack; yellow fever lived happily for centuries in Philadelphia. Malaria liked it fine in Washington, not to mention in the Carolinas where it took right over. The Ebola virus stopped off in Baltimore, and the Mexican p...

The medical tapestry of the world is full of organisms too small to see, carried by flying and creeping creatures too numerous to eradicate.A while ago, DDT and the antimalarial drug chloroquine seemed sure to make us all safe from such invisible assault.It was not to be. The mosquito has become resistant to DDT; malaria is on the rise; although tapeworms rarely turn up any longer in the most lovingly prepared New York City gefilte fish, a worm may inhabit ...

"Reads like a murder mystery…[Desowitz] writes with uncommon lucidity and verse, leaving the reader with a vivid understanding of malaria and other tropical diseases, and the ways in which culture, climate and politics have affected their spread and containment." —New York TimesWhy, Robert S. Desowitz asks, has biotechnical research on malaria produced so little when it had promised so much? An expert in tropical diseases, Desowtiz searches for answers in ...

This deep dive into humanity's very long fight against malaria is "a vivid and compelling history with a message that's entirely relevant today" (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction).In a time when every emergent disease inspires waves of panic, why aren't we doing more to eradicate one of our oldest foes? And how does a parasitic disease that we've known how to prevent for more than a century still infect 500 million pe...

Containing important information about the coronavirus, this comprehensive, easy-to-follow primer on pandemics, epidemics, and the panics they ignite around the world also shares solutions for a safer, healthier future.“A quiet little gem of understanding in a cacophony of panic and fear.”—Quill & Quire, STARRED reviewAuthored by a leading epidemiologist, this engrossing book answers our questions about animal diseases that ...

From the ravages of the Ebola virus in Zaire to outbreaks of pneumonic plague in India and drug-resistant TB in New York City, contagious diseases are fighting back against once-unconquerable modern medicine. Public concern about infectious disease is on the rise as newspapers trumpet the arrivals of new germs and the reemergence of old ones.In A Field Guide to Germs, Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Wayne Biddle brings readers face to face with nearly one hundred of ...

At the heart of this book by Nobel Prize–winning immunologist and professor Peter Doherty is this striking observation: Birds detect danger to our health and the environment before we do. Following a diverse cast of bird species around the world—from tufted puffins in Puget Sound to griffon vultures in India, pigeons in East Asia, and wedge-tailed shearwaters off the islands of Australia's Great Barrier Reef—Doherty illuminates birds' role as an early warning system for threats to the heal...

A clear, concise and comprehensive guide to staying healthy while abroad.Regardless of why a person is traveling abroad, having up-to-date health information before departing and readily available along the way is critical. Travel Health Guide is an easy-to-use, no-nonsense book written in everyday language by a physician who specializes in travel medicine. This book is essential for new travelers as well as seasoned globetrotters and incl...

Our ability to travel to the remotest parts of the world has been transformed, but the health risks are ever changing and increasing, and there may be no one to help when things go wrong. Whether you are travelling abroad for business or pleasure, this book provides essential, detailed, practical advice for journeys all over the world. This fifth edition is a complete revision of a best-selling, comprehensive and trusted guide. Travellers need to be increasingly well informed about health ...

A treasure of medical trivia that contains everything you never thought you wanted to know about medical school.