Gone Viral: The Germs That Share Our Lives

Description

Frank Bowden, a specialist in the field of infectious disease and sexual health, looks at one bug at a time, weaving around them the stories of his patients and their families, the doctors and the difficulties they face and the horrors and successes of hospitals and health care programs. Through Bowden's own work in the field, we encounter Swine Flu, Golden Staph, SARS, Hepatitis, and HIV, and learn crucial lessons about public health and the human experience of disease.

Author description

Frank Bowden is a board member of the One Disease at a Time Foundation and an advisor for the Australian government on HIV and sexual health. He is a former coordinator of the STD/AIDS program for Australia's Northern Territory, the cofounder of the Australian National University Medical School, and the former director of the Canberra Sexual Health Center.

Table of contents

Under the infl uence

A beautiful anachronism

Life during wartime

The pricking of my thumb

Malcolm in the beginning

The Semmelweis effect

In the blood

Severe and acute? That has to be bad!

The pox under our noses

Cultures that stink

Like a blowtorch to the groin

So common it can’t be a disease

Let’s not talk about sex

The Yellow Pages

Sleepers, wake

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Index to pathogens and diseases