Bøger af Richard Adler

In the 21st century, typhoid fever afflicts more than 21 million people each year, primarily in underdeveloped countries. In the age before sanitation and antibiotics, the infection was even more devastating, crippling entire armies and claiming the lives of both rich and poor. The story of typhoid is in many ways the story of modern medicine itself, with early efforts at treatment and prevention paving the way for our understanding of infectious disease in general. Many sought to understand and control the disease, including Robert Koch and Walter Reed. There were unsung heroes as well: Pierre Louis and William Gerhard, among the first to identify the disease's unique nature; William Budd, whose studies demonstrated its transmission through feces; and Georges Widal, whose test for the disease continues to be used in some areas. This book chronicles the fight against typhoid in the words of these and other medical pioneers, showing how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.

During bacteriology's Golden Age (roughly 1870-1890) European physicians focused on the role of bacteria as causal agents of disease. Advances in microscopy and laboratory methodology - including the ability to isolate and identify micro-organisms - played critical roles. This book highlights those who became acknowledged leaders in the field and whose work remains influential.

During the mid- to late 19th century, Detroit and the American Midwest were the sites of five major cholera epidemics. The first of these, the 1832 outbreak, was of particular significance--an unexpected consequence of the Black Hawk War. In order to suppress the Native American uprising then taking place in regions around present-day Illinois, General Winfield Scott had been ordered by President Andrew Jackson to transport his troops from Virginia to the Midwest. While passing through New York State the men were exposed to cholera, transmitting the disease to the population of Detroit once they reached that city. As a result, cholera was established as an endemic disease in the upper Midwest. Further outbreaks took place in 1834, 1849, 1854 and 1866, ultimately resulting in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. This book is the story of those outbreaks and the efforts to control them.