The Microbial Challenge. Science, Disease and Public Health

Whether we realize it or not, microbes play an ever-present role in our daily lives. Foodborne infections, epidemics, and pandemics are frequently headline news. The Microbial Challenge: Science, Disease, and Public Health, Second Edition, presents a fascinating look at human-microbe interactions and examines the disease producers while discussing how, with knowledge-based preparation, we can live in harmony with microbes. It also discusses the ways in which beneficial microbes are involved in the cycles of nature and in the food industry, and how they are used as research tools. Ideal for undergraduate non-science majors and allied and public health students, this unique text is a hybrid of microbiology and public health and includes material on prions, helminths (worms), biological warfare and terrorism, antibiotic resistance, the global impact of microbial diseases, and immunization. The text helps students better understand the biology of the microbial world and the societal factors that are both the cause and consequences of microbial disease.

With up-to-date content, current information on health organizations, including the CDC and WHO, and a new chapter on bacterial genetics, The Microbial Challenge provides a gripping account of the burden of microbial diseases throughout the world.

Key Features

• A new Chapter 6, Bacterial Genetics, reviews basic genetics and moves on to focus on transformation, conjugation, and transduction as strategies of genetic exchange in bacteria.
• All chapters have been updated, revised, and streamlined to improve the overall flow of information and aid in student comprehension and retention.
• Includes the latest epidemiological data, new information on antibiotic resistance, and current discussions on new emerging diseases.
• A new design and art program allows students to focus more sharply on important concepts.

Table of Contents

Part  1  The Challenge
  Chapter  1  Identifying the Challenge
  Chapter  2  The Microbial World
  Chapter  3  The Beneficial Aspects of Microbes: The Other Side of the Coin
  Chapter  4  Bacteria
  Chapter  5  Viruses
  Chapter  6  Bacterial Genetics
Part  2  Microbial Disease
  Chapter  7  Concepts of Microbial Disease
  Chapter  8  Epidemiology and Cycle of Microbial Disease
  Chapter  9  Bacterial Diseases
  Chapter  10  Viral Diseases
  Chapter  11  Protozoans and Helminths and the Diseases They Cause
Part  3  Meeting the Challenge
  Chapter  12  The Immune Response
  Chapter  13  Control of Microbial Diseases
  Chapter  14  Partnerships in the Control of Infectious Diseases
Part  4  Current Challenges
  Chapter  15  Biological Weapons
  Chapter  16  Current Plagues
  Chapter  17  The Unfinished Agenda

About the Author(s)

Robert Krasner, PhD, MPH - Providence College

Robert I. Krasner brings many years of undergraduate teaching experience to his writing. He is a professor of biology at Providence College, where he has been a faculty member for more than 40 years. In 1975 he founded the Summer Science Program for High School Students at Providence College, which he continues to direct. Dr. Krasner holds a Masters of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, which he earned in 1999. He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, where he was instrumental in establishing a microbial education division and served on ASM's Board of Education and Training.