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The Human Struggle against Infection
Dana Press
November 2006
On Sale: November 17, 2006
260 pages
ISBN: 1932594000
EAN: 9781932594003
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
A North Carolina woman dies of a flesh-eating bacterial
disease. Thousands of people in West Africa are suffering
from cholera. And antibiotics are rapidly becoming less and
less effective at fighting what were once mild infections.
The biggest threat to the future of human society may not be
terrorist attacks or nuclear war, but rather microscopic
bacteria. Immunologist Norbert Gualde explains in Resistance
the dangers we face from bacterial resistance, asserting
that we must confront the reality awaiting us--the next
fatal plague may occur sooner than we think. Over the course of the twentieth century, incredible
advances in medicine inspired a utopian belief among many
that all common infectious diseases would eventually be
eradicated. But Resistance shows that this dream is an
impossible one. The book’s riveting narrative reveals how
new infectious agents and diseases are being discovered
every day and how bacteria previously thought to have been
destroyed are returning with a vengeance. Drawing upon the
history of past epidemics, Gualde explores how new outbreaks
might be predicted and controlled. He also investigates the
potentially devastating social and political impact of such
public health disasters, particularly in underdeveloped
countries in the southern hemisphere. He ultimately argues
that the constant interaction between man and microorganisms
will inevitably catalyze future epidemics similar to the
horrific ones of centuries past. Global outbreak monitoring and medical research on the human
body’s immune system are beginning to produce effective
strategies against bacterial resistance. But the most
important weapon is awareness of the crisis, and this
engrossing and brilliantly translated study will serve as a
wake-up call for us all.
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