When I designed the content of this book, I had in mind this need for a definite multidisciplinary approach to the ERID peril.
The eminent colleagues I have selected as contributors, many of whom are close friends of mine, could be considered as a pilot team for a future research and control center, a kind of “dream CDC” of the sort that should compose the world CDC belt. The collection of disciplines and expertise brought together in this book is impressive. It is not exhaustive, but provides the reader withmany of the aspects of our present efforts toward better knowledge and control of epidemics.
The spectrum of topics includes the more advanced technologies (satellites in Chapters 23 and 26; advanced molecular biology and genomics in many chapters. As humorously noted by a colleague of mine: the encyclopedia goes “from microsatellites to satellites”).
The magic power of these new technologies is especially illustrated by Chapters 4 (characterization of uncultivable pathogens) and 27 (fossil DNA of mummies).
The three diseases of poverty (malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS) are given special, but not exclusive attention.
Chapters 2 and 7 illustrate the fact that the problems raised by epidemics and infectious diseases are comparable where pathogens of either human or animals or plants are concerned.
This book is not written only for people involved in medical sciences. It has also been designed to be of interest to veterinarians and agronomists. Human and animal pathogens are frequently the same. For example, the agent of Chagas disease can infect any mammal, not to mention the recent, dramatic example of bird flu. Studying animal pathogens is therefore crucial for human health, besides the obvious economic relevance of it.
Ample space is devoted to evolutionary studies, which provide us with many keys for understanding infectious diseasetransmission and which show the usefulness of basic research in medical applications, and in turn, the contribution of the study of infectious diseases to fundamental biological knowledge. The need to address a global scale and provide a bird’s eye view of the problem is emphasized by Chapters 32 and 33. The heuristic value of integrated studies including host, pathogen, and vector in the case of vector-borne diseases [8] is shown by Chapters 6 and 16. Practical field experience is brilliantly exposed in Chapter 37. Chapter 24 shows the relevance of its thorough use in a sophisticated, international network surveillance. The threat of bioterrorism is exposed by a CDC expert of the field in Chapter 36. Chapters dealing with the human science side of the question (neglected diseases, the points of view of sociology, anthropology, history, and economics) give us another perspective, indispensable to evaluate the perception of these curses and the impact of sociocultural and political problems on the transmission and severity of these diseases.
Last, the ending chapter shows us how much epidemics in the past have struck the imagination of mankind and have inspired (and still do?) fear on a religious scale.
Readers Targeted by the Encyclopedia
This book addresses a broad and varied audience. The authors have been selected among top professionals in their field. The chapters are therefore a reflection of the most up-to-date science and can be used as reference for specialized scientists. However, the contributors have been warmly invited to make their chapters accessible to a broad audience beyond the specialists of their field. To help in reaching this goal, detailed glossaries of specialized terms accompany most chapters. Of course many terms are defined several times in different glossaries. I chose not to establish a common glossary because some terms may have slightly different definitions according to the background and the vision of the authors. This is enriching and shows that science is not written in stone. Simplified classifications of pathogens (viruses, parasites, and bacteria) are given in Chapters 9, 18, and 37, respectively. Thanks to this effort toward accessiblity, many non-research-oriented readers can benefit from this book, including medical doctors, veterinarians, all health professionals, agronomical engineers and technicians, professors, teachers, students, and the educated public.
My dearest wish is that this book will arouse many vocations among its youngest readers, some of whom could some day staff the world CDC belt.
- Michel Tibayrenc
Key Features
Contents
About the Authors
MICHEL TIBAYRENC, MD, PhD, is Director of Research in the Genetics of Infectious Diseases Unit of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in France. Currently, he is the IRD representative in Thailand. The principal organizer of the international congresses for the Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of Infectious Diseases (MEEGID) Society, Dr. Tibayrenc is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.
The eminent colleagues I have selected as contributors, many of whom are close friends of mine, could be considered as a pilot team for a future research and control center, a kind of “dream CDC” of the sort that should compose the world CDC belt. The collection of disciplines and expertise brought together in this book is impressive. It is not exhaustive, but provides the reader withmany of the aspects of our present efforts toward better knowledge and control of epidemics.
The spectrum of topics includes the more advanced technologies (satellites in Chapters 23 and 26; advanced molecular biology and genomics in many chapters. As humorously noted by a colleague of mine: the encyclopedia goes “from microsatellites to satellites”).
The magic power of these new technologies is especially illustrated by Chapters 4 (characterization of uncultivable pathogens) and 27 (fossil DNA of mummies).
The three diseases of poverty (malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS) are given special, but not exclusive attention.
Chapters 2 and 7 illustrate the fact that the problems raised by epidemics and infectious diseases are comparable where pathogens of either human or animals or plants are concerned.
This book is not written only for people involved in medical sciences. It has also been designed to be of interest to veterinarians and agronomists. Human and animal pathogens are frequently the same. For example, the agent of Chagas disease can infect any mammal, not to mention the recent, dramatic example of bird flu. Studying animal pathogens is therefore crucial for human health, besides the obvious economic relevance of it.
Ample space is devoted to evolutionary studies, which provide us with many keys for understanding infectious diseasetransmission and which show the usefulness of basic research in medical applications, and in turn, the contribution of the study of infectious diseases to fundamental biological knowledge. The need to address a global scale and provide a bird’s eye view of the problem is emphasized by Chapters 32 and 33. The heuristic value of integrated studies including host, pathogen, and vector in the case of vector-borne diseases [8] is shown by Chapters 6 and 16. Practical field experience is brilliantly exposed in Chapter 37. Chapter 24 shows the relevance of its thorough use in a sophisticated, international network surveillance. The threat of bioterrorism is exposed by a CDC expert of the field in Chapter 36. Chapters dealing with the human science side of the question (neglected diseases, the points of view of sociology, anthropology, history, and economics) give us another perspective, indispensable to evaluate the perception of these curses and the impact of sociocultural and political problems on the transmission and severity of these diseases.
Last, the ending chapter shows us how much epidemics in the past have struck the imagination of mankind and have inspired (and still do?) fear on a religious scale.
Readers Targeted by the Encyclopedia
This book addresses a broad and varied audience. The authors have been selected among top professionals in their field. The chapters are therefore a reflection of the most up-to-date science and can be used as reference for specialized scientists. However, the contributors have been warmly invited to make their chapters accessible to a broad audience beyond the specialists of their field. To help in reaching this goal, detailed glossaries of specialized terms accompany most chapters. Of course many terms are defined several times in different glossaries. I chose not to establish a common glossary because some terms may have slightly different definitions according to the background and the vision of the authors. This is enriching and shows that science is not written in stone. Simplified classifications of pathogens (viruses, parasites, and bacteria) are given in Chapters 9, 18, and 37, respectively. Thanks to this effort toward accessiblity, many non-research-oriented readers can benefit from this book, including medical doctors, veterinarians, all health professionals, agronomical engineers and technicians, professors, teachers, students, and the educated public.
My dearest wish is that this book will arouse many vocations among its youngest readers, some of whom could some day staff the world CDC belt.
- Michel Tibayrenc
- Illustrations help readers understand the pathogenesis and diagnosis of infectious diseases.
- Lists of Web resources serve as a gateway to important research centers, government agencies, and other sources of information from around the world.
- Information boxes highlight basic principles and specialized terminology.
- International contributions offer perspectives on how infectious diseases are viewed by different cultures.
- A special chapter discusses the representation of infectious diseases in art.
Contents
- 1. Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis: Modern Molecular Epidemiology and Perspectives
- 2. Diseases that Threaten Livestock
- 3. HIV/AIDS Infection in the World with a Special Focus on Africa
- 4. Molecular-Phylogenetic Strategies for Characterization of Uncultured Pathogens
- 5. Molecular or Immunological Tools for Efficient Control of Tuberculosis
- 6. Understanding Human Leishmaniasis: The Need for an Integrated Approach
- 7. Epidemics of Plant Diseases: Mechanisms, Dynamics and Management
- 8. Malaria Vaccines
- 9. The SARS Case Study:An Alarm Clock?
- 10. Recombination and Its Role in the Evolution of Pathogenic Microbes
- 11. Evolutionary History of the Malaria Parasites
- 12. Ecology Of Infectious Diseases: An Example with Two Vaccine-Preventable Infectious Diseases
- 13. Influenza Evolution
- 14. Experimental Evolution of Pathogens
- 15. Evolution of Antigenic Variation
- 16. Hantavirus Coevolution with TheirRodent Hosts
- 17. Phylogenetic Methods for the Analysis of Parasites and Pathogens
- 18. Parasites that Manipulate Their Hosts
- 19. Human Genetic Diversity and the Spread of Infectious Diseases
- 20. Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of Pathogens
- 21. The Need for Megatechnologies: Massive Sequencing, Proteomics and Bioinformatics
- 22. Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases Dynamics
- 23. Using a Geographic Information System to Spatially Investigate Infectious Disease
- 24. Vector Control by Surveillance Networks: The ECLAT Program and Chagas
- 25. Contributions of Morphometrics to Medical Entomology
- 26. Surveillance of Vector-Borne Diseases Using Remotely Sensed Data
- 27. Archaeological Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases: Fossil DNA
- 28. Insights Into Structure and Evolution of Bacterial Species That Are Revealed by Molecular Methods
- 29. Exploring Genetic Relatedness, Patterns of Evolutionary Descent, and the Population Genetics of Bacterial Pathogens Using Multilocus Sequence Typing
- 30. Topical Debates Evaluation of Risks and Benefits of Consumption of Antibiotics: From Individual to Public Health
- 31. Epidemic Diseases in the Past: History, Philosophy, and Religious Thought
- 32. Fundamentals, Domains, and Diffusion of Disease Emergence:Tools and Strategies for a New Paradigm
- 33. Epidemiology in a Changing World: The Need for a Bigger Picture!
- 34. Contributions of Social Anthropology to Malaria Control
- 35. The Neglected Diseases and Their Economic Determinants
- 36. The Challenge of Bioterrorism
- 37. Needs for an Integrative Approach of Epidemics: The Example of Cholera
- 38. Infectious Diseases: Market of the Future?
- 39. Mobilizing the Scientific Community for the Patient’s Benefit:At the Crossroads of Fundamental and Applied Science
- 40. Infectious Diseases and Arts
About the Authors
MICHEL TIBAYRENC, MD, PhD, is Director of Research in the Genetics of Infectious Diseases Unit of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in France. Currently, he is the IRD representative in Thailand. The principal organizer of the international congresses for the Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of Infectious Diseases (MEEGID) Society, Dr. Tibayrenc is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 800 pages
- Publisher: Wiley-Liss; 1 edition (July 27, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0471657328
- ISBN-13: 978-0471657323
- Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 1.8 inches