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Title: Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections by Madeline Drexler ISBN: 0-14-200261-5 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.69 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A book everyone should read!
Comment: In "Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections", Madeline Drexler describes the biologic threats we will face in the next couple of decades due to both our actions and the potential actions from bio-terrorists. She covers the spread of disease including examples such as the West Nile virus due largely to modern rapid transportation, bacterial infections that are virulent and resistant-or immune-to antibiotics caused largely by the overuse of antibiotics by the food industry and the medical profession, the increase in food contamination partially due to the increasing consolidation of food processing, the increasing rate for diseases in animals like birds, pigs and primates to make the leap to humans and the emerging picture that infectious diseases play a much larger role in cancer, mental health and other health problems than previously thought. She then sets these in perspective with the potential threats of bioterrorism.
The book is very readable. Each section usually starts with an often dramatic description of a real case. For the West Nile virus for instance, she related the detective story of how the West Nile Virus was identified as the cause of a recent rash of infections in New York and other parts of the US.
I recommend the book strongly to everyone. Everyone today needs to understand the issues that affect our health and the health of families.
Secret Agents is published by the Joseph Henry Press, a division of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences devoted to increasing public awareness of scientific issues that affect our lives. The implicit endorsement by the National Academy of Sciences establishes the scientific credibility of the author and the material in the book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Bugs at Work
Comment: In "Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections," author Madeline Drexler takes us deep into the world of fast-moving microorganisms that can sicken people and end lives before doctors, hospitals or health agencies know what hit. Drexler shows "the bugs" at work in a well-chosen group of past and potential public health crises, including the West Nile virus's surprise hop across the Atlantic and the inevitable next influenza pandemic. With clarity and style, Drexler depicts in detail the characters in each drama: the amazingly adaptable bugs and the scientists and agency officials who must face them down. Meticulously researched, "Secret Agents" presents not only the scientific, but also the historic, political and economic contexts of approaching the seemingly intractable public health issues raised by the bugs. In the end, Drexler writes, such problems can only be addressed in a global context, in the interests of both rich and poor countries and the people who inhabit them. A fascinating read.
Rating: 4
Summary: Easy to read and interesting.
Comment: After hearing Madeline Drexler speak at my university, I had to read this book. It is clear that Ms. Drexler has put forth a lot of effort toward producing a well-researched and well-written book. There are many quotes from professionals on the front lines of infection control, and there are many examples of normal people suffering from frightening and strange emerging infections.
Drexler's book offers a warning that we must focus on public health issues if we hope to avoid the tragedy that an agent such as a pandemic flu could cause. The book is filled with warnings about the overuse of antibiotics and the inefficiency of public health beauracracy and lack of funding. I hope that more professionals and lay people read this book and heed its message.
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Title: The Demon in the Freezer : A True Story by Richard Preston ISBN: 0375508562 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 08 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria by Mark J./Shnayerson Plotkin ISBN: 0316713317 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 03 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett ISBN: 0140250913 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox by Jonathan B. Tucker ISBN: 0871138301 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: 02 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It by Stephen Handelman, Ken Alibek ISBN: 0385334966 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 11 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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