Infectious and contagious diseases Books

Book SynopsisAs a doctor who has been treating patients for a few decades, Dr Zhong Nanshan's goal is to help people have a deeper understanding of the importance of health and their current sub-health status. In this book, Dr Zhong highlights five fundamental elements focusing on the key to a healthy life. He leads us to gain control of our health and lead a better lifestyle.As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of people are beginning to realise how crucial it is to have a healthy lifestyle. Without using complex medical jargon, this book effectively guides all who are keen to improve their health and general well-being, through easy-to-understand procedures, colorful illustrations and up-to-date charts.

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Book SynopsisSince the start of the 21st century, the world has been experiencing numerous infectious disease outbreaks, with little time to breath between events. This fictional novel takes place in various countries across the globe that are dealing with large infectious disease outbreaks due to viruses causing yellow fever, Zika,, Ebola and COVID-19. David Ferguson, in the World Health Organization's Emergency Preparedness Division, attempts to deal with these outbreaks, but must overcome numerous logistical, political and ethical roadblocks while becoming involved in a romantic relationship with Aceline Durand, who works for Medecins Sans Frontiers.

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Book SynopsisThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and livelihoods all over the world by its myriad of twists and turns. The causative SARS coronavirus 2 continues to defy the imagination by its rapid evolution from the Alpha to Delta to Omicron variants. This book by an international and multi-disciplinary team of virologists, infectious diseases and public health physicians aims to uncover the scientific basis underpinning the virus characteristics, as well as the clinical and public health management of COVID-19. The ten chapters address and discuss a broad range of key topics including viral evolution, clinical management, diagnostic methodologies, aerosol transmission, public health containment measures, vaccination, pathophysiology, and omics analyses. More generally, the book can serve as a useful reference guide on many future scientific issues and questions that will continue to arise as humanity learns to confront and co-exist with COVID-19.

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Book SynopsisMicrobial infections have been and continue to be a major threat to public health. China has a huge population, among which, microbial infections are of great concern. The Journal of Microbes and Infection, a nationwide journal in China with over 4000 subscriptions, publishes original research articles on microbes and infections in the Chinese language. This book contains selected research articles published in this journal from 2006 to 2007 that have been translated into English, and offers a glimpse of a broad range of microbial infections including the clinical and epidemiological aspects of various viral infections, current status of bacterial infections in hospitals, and severe cases of fungal infections. This book provides a rare opportunity for scientists and physicians abroad to see the completely original research data, rather than just the abstract, based on studies conducted in modern China. Articles on molecular biological and bioinformatic studies are also included. An overview of the recent research trend in medical microbiology and infectious diseases in China will be presented as well. Scientists and physicians working in the fields of virology, microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, vaccinology, and infectious diseases will find the articles in this book fascinating and relevant to their own research and practice.Table of ContentsViruses and Viral Infections: Influenza; Measles; Viral Hepatitis; HIV; Coxsackie Virus Infections; Avian Flu; HCMV; Mumps; Bacteria and Bacterial Infections: TB; Other Mycobacteria; Streptococcus suis; Brucellosis; Mycoplasma Urea; Leptospira; Fungi and Fungal Infections: Cryptococcus; Aspergillus.

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Book SynopsisNobel laureate Tu Youyou won the 2015 prize for Medicine/Physiology for the discovery of artemisinin, a drug therapy for malaria that has saved millions across the globe.This book traces the path of discovery beginning with Chairman Mao's 1964 instruction to Chinese researchers to find a cure for malaria, a disease that plagued the military and civilians alike in endemic regions. It chronicles the years of painstaking research to find effective anti-malarial drugs, and how an entry in a collection of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions gave Tu Youyou the clue which led her to successfully extract artemisinin from the plant, Artemisia annua.Gathering together information from a variety of sources including first-hand accounts, this book describes the contributions of the many organisations, scientists, doctors and countless others who played a part in the process of discovery and clinical testing. It also provides insights into the challenges of carrying out such an extensive research project with limited resources during the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. An inspirational read for young scientists.Includes the translation of Professor Tu Youyou's 2015 Nobel Lecture.

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Book SynopsisThe intent of this book is to provide a methodology for the analysis of infectious diseases by computer-based mathematical models. The approach is based on ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that provide time variation of the model dependent variables and partial differential equations (PDEs) that provide time and spatial (spatiotemporal) variations of the model dependent variables.The starting point is a basic ODE SIR (Susceptible Infected Recovered) model that defines the S,I,R populations as a function of time. The ODE SIR model is then extended to PDEs that demonstrate the spatiotemporal evolution of the S,I,R populations. A unique feature of the PDE model is the use of cross diffusion between populations, a nonlinear effect that is readily accommodated numerically. A second feature is the use of radial coordinates to represent the geographical distribution of the model populations.The numerical methods for the computer implementation of ODE/PDE models for infectious diseases are illustrated with documented R routines for particular applications, including models for malaria and the Zika virus. The R routines are available from a download so that the reader can reproduce the reported solutions, then extend the applications through computer experimentation, including the addition of postulated effects and associated equations, and the implementation of alternative models of interest.The ODE/PDE methodology is open ended and facilitates the development of computer-based models which hopefully can elucidate the causes/conditions of infectious disease evolution and suggest methods of control.

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Book SynopsisSelected as CHOICE magazine's Outstanding Academic Title, January 2017.The book is a narrative of the unfolding of the Ebola virus disease outbreak from a scientific view point. The author provides an analysis of the scientific basis of public health policies that have influenced the public's, and the medical community's, abilities to understand the virus and the disease. This is done in the context of providing insights into the biology of the virus, and exploring open questions, including its likely modes of transmission. The author has included citations from the scientific literature and the press, as well as quotes from expert interviews. The book will help sort out the fact from fiction, given the confusion that arose after the virus arrived in the US. The author used his objective research skills and knowledge of evolutionary genetics and molecular biology to find out what was known, and what questions remained unanswered, and even what questions remained unasked.Written in an accessible style, it is intended for the educated general public, scientists, policy makers, health care workers, and politicians. It delves into the problems of trying to derive a logic-based understanding of a highly lethal emerging disease in 2014, when research funding cuts have gutted research institutions, and when public health institutions really were woefully unprepared. It is a highly distinct narrative analysis that is sure to stimulate new research and thinking in public policy. It will inform thousands of people of the nature of the virus, how it works, in terms they are likely to be able to understand. It will allow others to rapidly catch up with the story of Ebola.Table of ContentsOrigins of the Epidemic; How Well Do We Understand the 2014 Ebolavirus?; Ways in Which Ebola 2014 May Differ from Past Outbreaks: Evolution of Viral Phenotypes; Biological Knowledge and Ebola Policy; "How Cruel is That?"; With Blinded Eyes; Are We Asking the Right Questions and Solving All the Right Problem(s)?; Evolution is Real, or, Deadly Consequences of Dogma; Promising Treatments; Policy Analysis; A Rational Analysis of Irrational Decisions, or Don't Fear the Reaper;

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Book SynopsisSelected as CHOICE magazine's Outstanding Academic Title, January 2017.The book is a narrative of the unfolding of the Ebola virus disease outbreak from a scientific view point. The author provides an analysis of the scientific basis of public health policies that have influenced the public's, and the medical community's, abilities to understand the virus and the disease. This is done in the context of providing insights into the biology of the virus, and exploring open questions, including its likely modes of transmission. The author has included citations from the scientific literature and the press, as well as quotes from expert interviews. The book will help sort out the fact from fiction, given the confusion that arose after the virus arrived in the US. The author used his objective research skills and knowledge of evolutionary genetics and molecular biology to find out what was known, and what questions remained unanswered, and even what questions remained unasked.Written in an accessible style, it is intended for the educated general public, scientists, policy makers, health care workers, and politicians. It delves into the problems of trying to derive a logic-based understanding of a highly lethal emerging disease in 2014, when research funding cuts have gutted research institutions, and when public health institutions really were woefully unprepared. It is a highly distinct narrative analysis that is sure to stimulate new research and thinking in public policy. It will inform thousands of people of the nature of the virus, how it works, in terms they are likely to be able to understand. It will allow others to rapidly catch up with the story of Ebola.Table of ContentsOrigins of the Epidemic; How Well Do We Understand the 2014 Ebolavirus?; Ways in Which Ebola 2014 May Differ from Past Outbreaks: Evolution of Viral Phenotypes; Biological Knowledge and Ebola Policy; "How Cruel is That?"; With Blinded Eyes; Are We Asking the Right Questions and Solving All the Right Problem(s)?; Evolution is Real, or, Deadly Consequences of Dogma; Promising Treatments; Policy Analysis; A Rational Analysis of Irrational Decisions, or Don't Fear the Reaper;

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Book SynopsisSeparating FACT from FICTION in the COVID-19 Epidemic People are afraid. COVID-19 has upended our lives as it poses new medical dangers, economic suffering and grave uncertainty about the world around us. The collateral damage is enormous, but politics invade perception. There are so many unknowns. Does a treatment work? Is a vaccine coming? How likely are you to catch COVID and how can you best protect yourself and your family? What are the real risks and what is hysteria? Where are our fear leaders? What are their agendas? From Fox News Medical Contributor and the author of False Alarm (Wiley, 2008) comes COVID: The Politics of Fear and the Power of Science by Marc Siegel, M.D. This shocking exposé of the facts as the media covers the national pandemic news and spread of the invisible virus reinforces the notion that we must arm ourselves against fear tactics that limit our abilities to safely make decisions and protect our families in a world of uncertainty. Life for citizens of the developed world before the pandemic was safer, easier, and healthier than for any other people in history thanks to modern medicine, science, technology, and intelligence—but COVID-19 has stolen that security and our nation's peace of mind. Now there is a pandemic virus, as well as a crippling epidemic of fear sweeping America. Why? The answer, according to nationally renowned health commentator Dr. Marc Siegel, is that we already lived in an artificially created culture of fear that was just waiting to be unleashed. In COVID: The Politics of Fear and the Power of Science, Siegel identifies three major catalysts of the culture of fear: government, the media, and our own psyche. With fascinating, blow-by-blow analyses of the most sensational false alarms of the past few years, compounded now by the worst contagion of our lifetimes, he shows how fear mongers manipulate our most primitive instincts—often without our even realizing it. COVID shows us how to look behind the hype and hysteria, inoculate ourselves against these crippling fear tactics, and develop the emotional and intellectual skills needed to take back our lives, even as we battle the pandemic itself.

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