1. BOOK REVIEWS
Polymicrobial virus type 1, measles viruses, JC virus, sclerosis, and cancers, such as Kaposi
Epstein-Barr virus, and herpes sim- sarcoma, hepatocellular sarcoma, and
Diseases plex virus-1. The chapter on mixed cervical cancer. I recommend the book
mycotic infections adequately dis- to those who think beyond the “single
K.A. Brogden cusses how fungi interact by mecha- agent, single disease” framework and
and J.M. Guthmiller, editors nisms such as commensalism, imagine multifactorial causes for
opportunism, mixed colonization, co- those diseases currently listed as “eti-
ASM Press isolation, and dual and polymicrobial ology unknown.”
Washington, D.C., 2002 infection.
Harry W. Haverkos
ISBN: 1-55581-244-9 Growing two or more microbes in
Pages: 446, Price: $115.95 the laboratory in a clinical situation
Food And Drug Administration, Rockville,
does not prove that a polymicrobial Maryland
Polymicrobial diseases involve infection is the cause of the disease.
multiple infectious agents and are The editors and authors do not provide
referred to as complex, complicated, a framework similar to that of Robert
Manual of
mixed, dual, secondary, synergistic, Koch or Bradford Hill, which one can
concurrent, polymicrobial, coinfec- use to decipher the role(s) of each can-
Commercial
tions. This new book, a collection of didate agent in a polymicrobial dis-
Methods in Clinical
21 chapters written by a variety of ease. A limited discussion is provided
authors, reviews mixed infections in
Microbiology
on the role of noninfectious factors,
animals and humans. The chapters are such as genetics of the host, retained
gathered into sections on polyviral “hardware,” alcohol in hepatitis, or
Allan L. Truant
diseases, polybacterial diseases, viral tobacco use in respiratory diseases.
and bacterial infections, fungal infec- How each of the chapters was selected
American Society
tions, infections resulting from for inclusion and what other topics
for Microbiology
microbe-induced immunosuppres- were considered is not clear.
Washington, D.C., 2002
sion, and a concluding perspective. The reference lists are one of the
ISBN: 1-55581-189-2
Polymicrobial diseases described book’s strengths but also a weakness.
Pages: 502, Price: $115.95
include abscesses, AIDS-related The lists are extensive, occupying
opportunistic infections, conjunctivi- about 30% of the book’s pages. Priori-
During the past 25–30 years, tre-
tis, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, multiple tizing the outside readings on each
mendous strides have been made in
sclerosis, otitis media, periodontal dis- topic would have been useful. Several
the development of various commer-
eases, respiratory diseases, and genital of the chapters might have been com-
cial methods designed to simplify the
infections. Approximately two-thirds bined, such as the two on periodontal
isolation (in some cases) and the
of the chapters deal with human dis- diseases, those on retroviruses, and
detection or identification (in most
eases; the others discuss infections in those on respiratory diseases in
cases) of many different microbes in
cattle, goats, and pigs. humans, cattle, and pigs. In the next
the laboratory. During these years, the
The chapters are generally well edition, the authors might explore the
time-honored conventional test meth-
written with a focus on microbiology, polymicrobial etiology of Reye syn-
ods have served the overall science of
pathogenesis, and to a lesser degree, drome, autoimmune disorders, athero-
treatment. The chapters on abscesses,
multiple sclerosis, and mixed mycotic
infections are especially informative.
The chapter on abscesses provides a
comprehensive review of the microbi-
ology processes involved, the role of
anaerobes in mixed infections, and
animal models. The section on viruses
and multiple sclerosis is provocative
in its proposal that several viruses
might coexist and interact to promote
multiple sclerosis and other neuro-
logic diseases. The list of candidate
etiologic agents includes Human herp-
esvirus-6, human T-lymphotropic
• Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2003 141
Emerging Infectious Diseases

2. BOOK REVIEWS
on licensure and regulation of com-
microbiology well. However, in a clin- audience for this book is primarily
mercial products is also included,
ical microbiology laboratory, speed clinical microbiologists and other pro-
which I found helpful. In addition, the
and accuracy are essential because the fessionals who work in these environ-
book provides an appendix that lists
specimen must be processed and the ments, I suspect that many physicians,
the manufacturers and distributors for
results returned to the requesting phy- including infectious disease special-
many of the systems described in the
sician by yesterday, if possible. Thus, ists, will find this book especially
book. The authors include a descrip-
many of the commercial methods valuable when deciding what tests to
tion of the sensitivities, specificities,
reviewed in this book were developed order for their patients, especially in
and predictive values of the tests from
mainly for use in the clinical microbi- light of the high costs of health care.
peer-reviewed sources. Another chap-
ology laboratory, providing both rapid As with any multi-authored text,
ter of interest focuses on future tech-
and accurate results with a minimum some unevenness in the writing is
nology for the clinical microbiology
of hands-on use. expected. However, I believe that the
laboratory. My only suggestion is that
To my knowledge, this reference overall scope and format of this book
future editions of this text include a
manual is the first resource that covers are quite useful, and that readers will
chapter on the history of how all these
all subdisciplines of clinical microbi- find this manual a valuable, compre-
commercial tests came into being,
ology. The book contains 18 chapters, hensive source of information. The
instead of various authors alluding to
including separate chapters on molec- authors are to be commended for tack-
this point in their respective chapters.
ular microbiology, emerging infec- ling such an enormous project and
Each chapter is well referenced,
tious diseases, information manage- successfully presenting it in such a
and many chapters contain tabular
ment, and veterinary clinical microbi- readable format.
material that is, for the most part, easy
ology, as well as chapters on bacterial
William J. Martin
to read and understand. The photogra-
identification and antimicrobial sus-
phy is adequate, although several pho-
ceptibility testing, blood cultures, Tucson, Arizona
tographs are blurred and lack clear
mycology and mycobacteriology,
definition. Although the intended
virology, and parasitology. A chapter
Full text free online at
www.cdc.gov/eid
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• Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2003
142 Emerging Infectious Diseases