Description
Book SynopsisA rip-roaring read.NatureFresh out of college in the 1960s, Mary Guinan aspired to be an astronautuntil she learned that NASA's astronaut program wasn't recruiting women. Instead, Guinan went to medical school and became a disease detective with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service. Selected to join India's Smallpox Eradication program, Guinan traveled to remote villages to isolate smallpox cases and then vaccinate all uninfected persons within a ten-mile radius. By May 1975, the World Health Organization declared Uttar Pradesh smallpox-free. During her barrier-breaking career, Dr. Guinan met arms-seeking Afghan insurgents in Pakistan and got caught in the crossfire between religious groups in Lebanon. She was one of the first medical detectives on the ground in San Francisco at the start of the AIDS crisis. And she served as an expert witness in a landmark decision that still protects HIV patients from workplace discrimination. Randy Shilts'
Trade ReviewA rip-roaring read. As a 'medical detective,' Guinan presents a series of case studies in explicit homage to super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes.
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NatureA frank and illuminating look at how scientists—female scientists in particular—actually work to combat disease.
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The Washington PostAuthor Mary Guinan is a true pioneer, and the stories she tells of her early career are jaw-dropping. In every job-related battle she fought, Guinan's tenacity is impressive and empowering.
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Bookworm SezA punchy whodunnit.
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Times Higher EducationLight-hearted and easy to read. Guinan's stories embody the modesty and humor inherent in the culture of epidemiology as practiced by the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Emerging Infectious DiseasesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. My First Outbreak Investigation
2. Something to Believe In: Operation Smallpox Zero
3. A Gift of an Elephant
4. Dr. Herpes
5. Healthcare Workers and Enemy Information in a War Zone, Pakistan, 1980
6. An AIDS Needlestick at a Rundown Hotel in San Francisco, 1982
7. ACT UP Acts Up at CDC over the Definition of AIDS for Women
8. The HIV-Infected Preacher's Wife
9. Few Safe Places
10. Expert Witness for John Doe, the Pharmacist, 1991
11. The Milk Industry Challenges CDC over the Source of a Listeriosis Outbreak
12. On Getting AIDS from a Toilet Seat and Other STD Myths and Taboos
References
Index
