BOOK REVIEWS
Gary P. Wormser, Section Editor
Manson’s Tropical Diseases,
21st Edition
Edited by Gordon C. Cook
and Alimuddin I. Zumla
Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 2003. 1847 pp.,
illustrated. $179.00 (cloth).
Manson’s Tropical Diseases is a classic text-
book on the practice of tropical medicine.
The first edition was published in 1898,
and the 20th edition was published in
1996. The new edition is a comprehensive
textbook that covers a wide variety of sub-
jects, including not only tropical diseases
and clinical syndromes but also important
aspects of international health. Contrib-
utors to this volume include many inter-
national experts in the field. This edition
includes 10 new chapters that broaden the
scope of this excellent text in a field that is
rapidly changing; the new chapters are
“Primary Care,” “Epidemiology,” “Tradi-
tional Medicine,” “Genetics,” “Econom-
ics,” “Ethics,” “Blood Transfusions,” “Trop-
ical Oral Health,” “Pneumococcal Disease,”
and “Sources of Information on Tropical
Medicine.” The new chapters “Ethics,”
“Traditional Medicine,” and “Primary
Care” are especially informative and timely
for all students of tropical medicine. The
chapter “Sources of Information in Tropical
Medicine” is a helpful addition that gives
the reader access to numerous other ref-
erences. The innovative chapters “Econom-
ics” and “Blood Transfusions” give fine
overviews and thought-provoking discus-
sions of newer problems faced in tropical
medicine. The traditional chapters of the
book, which cover system-oriented dis-
eases, infectious diseases, and parasitology,
are all comprehensive and current in their
approach. The editors of Manson’s Tropical
Clinical Infectious Diseases 2003; 37:609
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Diseases recognize the tremendous impact
of tuberculosis and malaria in tropical
regions. I found the chapters on tubercu-
losis and malaria to be among the best sum-
maries of these topics in the literature; they
thoroughly cover important clinical aspects
of the conditions, as well as new develop-
ments in prevention and treatment.
The chapter “HIV/AIDS—with an Em-
phasis on Africa” describes the epidemi-
ology, clinical presentation, and associated
opportunistic infections of HIV infection
and AIDS. It is a challenge to keep infor-
mation on HIV infection current, but the
authors present the major problems of
HIV infection well, particularly with re-
gard to how the disease affects the tropics.
Because prevention and treatment trials
will continue to involve Africa extensively
in the future, a more thorough discussion
of antiretroviral therapy in children, preg-
nant women, and other adults would have
been welcomed.
This book will continue to be an out-
standing reference for all health care pro-
viders, students, and public health workers
who are interested in tropical medicine. It
will serve as an exhaustive reference both
for clinical medicine in the tropics and for
related international health issues while
providing useful references for further read-
ing. The book is not only complete and
accurate, it is a pleasure to read. The text
is written in an engaging style that is easy
to comprehend. Although written by many
different authors, the style and tone of the
book are consistent. The tables, graphs, and
diagrams are well planned and help clarify
the text. The black-and-white photographs
have superb contrast, and the color ones
are true to life.
The book’s only drawback is its sheer
size. The bulk dictated by its comprehen-
sive nature makes it challenging to trans-
port it to an international site for work in
the field. As a text for use in formal and
informal courses in tropical medicine, the
BOOK REVIEWS • CID 2003:37 (15 August) • 609
book is an outstanding choice. Manson’s
Tropical Diseases, 21st Edition can be highly
recommended for all health care providers,
students in health sciences, graduate stu-
dents in public health, specialists in infec-
tious diseases, and general readers who are
interested in this challenging, expanding
field. This new edition has retained the tra-
dition of the original edition of Manson’s
while adding material on newer topics that
are needed in this dynamic field. The book
will continue to be an inspiring resource
for all learners and teachers of tropical med-
icine and international health.
Melanie A. Fisher
International Health Program, Department
of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases,
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
of West Virginia University, Morgantown
PDxMD: Infectious
Diseases, Volumes One
and Two
Edited by the PDxMD Faculty–Editorial
Advisory Board
Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 2003.
707 pp. (vol. 1); 764 pp. (vol. 2) (paper).
PDxMD Infectious Diseases is a new ad-
dition to the PDxMD series, which is de-
scribed as an evidence-based clinical in-
formation system designed to provide
support for clinical judgment with prac-
tical clinical information. PDxMD is an
electronic resource with a print version
intended to complement it. This review
encompasses only the 2-volume print
version.
According to the editors, the print ver-
sion provides only a fraction of the con-
tent available in the electronic format. In-
formation for each medical condition is
organized into a “MediFile”; each Medi-
File includes summary information and
data on background, diagnosis, treatment,
 outcome, prevention, and resources (i.e.,
key literature references and references to
guidelines and databases, including Inter-
net addresses, when applicable.) Each sec-
tion in the MediFile is color-coded to al-
low for easy referencing within sections.
The print version of PDxMD could
prove to be useful as a quick infectious
diseases reference for primary care phy-
sicians, hospitalists, nurse clinicians, and
physicians’ assistants. We found that the
chapters devoted to specific pathogens
provided concise and clinically relevant
reviews that were accurate and up-to-date.
The chapters devoted to major clinical
syndromes, such as HIV infection/AIDS
and meningitis, were not of the same qual-
ity and contained quite a few errors. For
example, Haemophilus influenzae is listed
first among the common causes of bac-
terial meningitis, and physicians are ad-
vised to administer intravenous penicillin
to patients with suspected bacterial men-
ingitis before hospital transfer. Although
it is impossible for any print reference to
be all-inclusive, it is curious that the ed-
itors chose to cover babesiosis but not
Lyme borreliosis or Ehrlichia infection;
blastomycosis is covered, but not histo-
plasmosis or coccidioidomycosis. Signs
and symptoms of various conditions are
listed without any emphasis on those that
are most pertinent to the condition being
discussed. The differential diagnosis lists
were often confusing to us. The differ-
ential diagnosis of HIV infection/AIDS in-
cludes herpes simplex infection and viral
hepatitis; it is unclear whether this regards
the differential diagnosis of HIV infection/
AIDS, acute retroviral syndrome, or HIV-
related opportunistic infections.
We are not convinced that these books
would be of value to infectious diseases
clinicians or fellows. The print version is
simply not comprehensive enough for
those practicing in the specialty. Accord-
ing to the introduction, information is re-
viewed and synthesized by professional
medical writers and is then reviewed by
physician “clinical reviewers.” For many
of the sections, it seemed that the editing
610 • CID 2003:37 (15 August) • BOOK REVIEWS
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was inadequate. Clinicians interested in
purchasing an electronic database may
want to visit the PDxMD Web site (http:
//www.pdxmd.com) to preview the for-
mat; a free 30-day trial is available. The
electronic version includes patient infor-
mation sheets that can be downloaded.
The package can also be downloaded to
a hand-held device. Our visit to the Web
site did not allow us to preview infectious
diseases–specific material; rather, the avail-
able examples were angina (for the “dis-
ease-specific” category) and chest pain (for
the “differential diagnosis” category). We
would strongly suggest that interested in-
dividuals ask specifically to preview the in-
fectious diseases sections before deciding to
purchase the package.
Varsha Moudgal and Patricia D. Brown
Division of Infectious Diseases, Wayne State
University School of Medicine, Harper University
Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
New Books Received
Murray PR, Baron EJ, Pfaller MA, Tenover
FC, Yolken RH. Manual of Clinical Micro-
biology, 8th Edition. 2 vols. Washington DC:
ASM Press, 2003. 2322 pp. $189.95. ISBN:
1-55581-255-4.
Chernick MR, Friis RH. Introductory Bio-
statistics for the Health Sciences. New York:
Wiley-Interscience, 2003. 406 pp. $89.95.
ISBN: 0-471-41137-X.
Cook GC, Zumla A. Manson’s Tropical Dis-
eases, 21st Edition. Philadelphia: Elsevier Sci-
ence (WB Saunders), 2002. 1847 pp.
$179.00. ISBN: 0-7020-2640-9.
Gray JS, Kahl O, Lane RS, Stanek G. Lyme
Borreliosis: Biology, Epidemiology and Con-
trol. New York: CABI Publishing (Oxford
University Press), 2002. 368 pp. $140.00.
ISBN: 0-85199-632-9.
El Katsha S, Watts S. Gender, Behavior, and
Health: Schistosomiasis Transmission and
Control in Rural Egypt. New York: American
University in Cairo Press, 2003. 230 pp.
$27.50. ISBN: 977-424-728-0.
Atkinson AJ, Daniels CE, Dedrick RL, Grud-
zinskas CV, Markey SP. Principles of Clinical
Pharmacology. San Diego: Academic Press,
2001. 480 pp. $79.95. ISBN: 0-12-066060-1.
Kotb M, Calandra T. Cytokines and Che-
mokines in Infectious Diseases Handbook.
Towata NJ: Humana Press, 2003. 456 pp.
$145.00. ISBN: 0-89603-908-0.
Larone DH. Medically Important Fungi: A
Guide to Identification, 4th Edition. Wash-
ington, DC: ASM Press, 2002. 410 pp.
$79.95. ISBN: 1-55581-172-8.
Narain JP. Tuberculosis: Epidemiology and
Control. New Delhi: World Health Organi-
zation, 2002. 248 pp. Free. ISBN: 92-90-22-
2289.
Baddour L, Gorbach, SL. Therapy of Infec-
tious Diseases. Philadelphia: Elsevier Science,
2003. 815 pp. $99.00. ISBN: 0-7216-8145-X.
O’Neill JF, Selwyn PA, Schietinger H. A Clin-
ical Guide to Supportive and Palliative Care
for HIV/AIDS. New York: Health Resources
and Services Administration, 2003. 602 pp.
No ISBN.
Boros DL. Granulomatous Infections and In-
flammations: Cellular and Molecular Mech-
anisms. Washington DC: ASM Press, 2003.
342 pp. $105.95. ISBN: 1-55581-260-0.
Stetzenbach LD, Yates MV. The Dictionary
of Environmental Microbiology. San Diego:
Academic Press, 2003. 184 pp $65.95. ISBN:
0-12-668000-0.
Greenblatt C, Spigelman M. Emerging Path-
ogens: Archaeology, Ecology and Evolution
of Infectious Disease. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2003. 256 pp. $59.50. ISBN:
0-19-850901-4.
American Academy of HIV Medicine (AA-