Editors: Rachel L. Chin and Bradley W. Frazee
Associate Editor: Zlatan Coralic
Publisher:  Cambridge University Press – 627 pages
Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram

This second edition of the book published in 2018 is an update to the first edition published in 2008, and provides comprehensive coverage of the very many ailments, conditions, diseases, and disorders faced by emergency medicine physicians in hospitals and clinics all over the United States on a daily basis. This book covers in its 600+ pages, the entire gamut of bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral infections.

The editors and authors discuss the epidemiology, microbiology, and pathophysiology of each disease at the beginning of each chapter, providing ample visual images, with captions.

Ninety-seven specialists in various types of infectious diseases from all around the U.S. authored the 78 chapters of this book.

We name the individual chapters below to provide you an overview of its contents, since the chapters are not grouped together or divided into parts or sections. This will also enable you the reader, to easily check which topics are covered or not covered in this book.

  1. Infective Endocarditis
  2. Pericarditis and Myocarditis
  3. Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Infections
  4. Altered Mental Status in HIV-infected Patients
  5. Botulism
  6. Fever and Focal Cerebral Dysfunction
  7. Infections Affecting the Spinal Cord
  8. Meningitis
  9. Rabies
  10. Tetanus
  11. West Nile Encephalitis Virus
  12. Bacterial Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
  13. Ectoparasites
  14. Fever and Rash in Adults
  15. Otitis Externa
  16. Otitis Media
  17. Sinusitis
  18. Supraglottis (Epiglottis)
  19. Parotitis
  20. Pharyngitis and Perotonsillar Abcess
  21. Deep Neck Space Infections
  22. Dental and Odontogenic Infections
  23. Infectious Biliary Diseases: Cholecystitis and Cholangitis
  24. Viral Hepatitis
  25. Peritonitis
  26. Acute Infectious Diarrhea
  27. Diarrhea in HIV-Infected Patients
  28. Clostridium Difficile Infection
  29. Male Genitourinary Infections
  30. Non-Ulcerative Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  31. Ulcerative Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  32. Vulvovaginitis
  33. Adult Septic Arthritis
  34. Diabetic Foot Infections
  35. Hand Infections: Fight Bite, Tenosynovitis, Felon and Paronchia
  36. Open Fractures
  37. Osteomyelitis
  38. Plantar Puncture Wounds
  39. Prosthetic Joint Infections
  40. Spine Infections
  41. Conjunctival and Corneal Infections
  42. Periocular Infections
  43. Infections of the Uvea, Vitreous, and Retina
  44. Community-Acquired Pneumonia
  45. HIV-Associated Respiratory Infections
  46. Influenza
  47. Tuberculosis
  48. Lower Urinary Tract Infection in Adults
  49. Pyelonephritis in Adults
  50. Fever in the Newborn
  51. The Febrile Child
  52. Fever and Rash in the Pediatric Population
  53. Pediatric Orthopedic Infections
  54. Pediatric Respiratory Infections
  55. Pediatric Urinary Tract Infections
  56. Bites (Dogs, Cats, Rodents, Lagomorphs)
  57. Blood or Body Fluid Exposure Management and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for Hepatitis B and HIV
  58. Fever in Pregnancy
  59. Postpartum and Post-Abortion Infections
  60. Fever in the Returning Traveler
  61. Infectious Complications of Injection Drug Use
  62. Infections in Oncology Patients
  63. Post-Operative Infections
  64. The Febrile Post-Transplant Patient
  65. Sepsis
  66. Infections in Sickle Cell Disease
  67. Anthrax
  68. Plague
  69. Smallpox
  70. Tularemia
  71. Hantavirus
  72. Ebola Virus Disease
  73. Zika Virus
  74. Zoonotic Influenza (Novel Influenza A, Including Avian and Swine Influenza A Virus Infections
  75. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylcoccus Aureus (MRSA)
  76. Enterocci
  77. Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase
  78. Antimicrobial Overview

To give you an idea of how each chapter provides coverage. Let us take a look at the outline of chapter 8 – Meningitis:

Outline

Introduction
Epidemiology
Microbiology

  1. Acute Bacterial Meningitis
  2. Aseptic Meningitis an Viral Meningitis

Clinical Features
Differential Diagnosis
Laboratory and Radiographic Findings

  1. CSF Studies
  2. Interpreting the CSF

Treatment

  1. Steroids

Chronic Meningitis, Fungal Meningitis, and Unusual Pathogens

  1. Fungal Meningitis
  2. Tuberculous Meningitis
  3. Syphilis
  4. Parasitic Meningitis

Special Considerations

  1. Shunt Infections
  2. Skull Fractures, Penetrating Trauma, or History of Neurosurgical Procedure
  3. Immunocompromised Patients

Complications and Admission Criteria
Infection Control
Pearls and Pitfalls
References
Additional Readings

This is an ideal textbook on infectious diseases, and very comprehensive. The detailed coverage in each chapter of all the important aspects of each infectious disease and variations is ideal for medical students, residents, as well as established practitioners.

 

Editors:

Rachel L. Chin is Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

Bradley W. Frazee is with the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Alameda Health System – Highland Hospital in Oakland, California; and is Clinical Professor of Emergency System at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in San Francisco, California.

 

Associate Editor:

Zlatan Coralic is Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in San Francisco, California.