8/10/2019 Clin Infect Dis. 2008 Wormser 485

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BOOK REVIEWS CID 2008:46 (1 February) 485

B O O K R E V I E W S

Gary P. Wormser, Section Editor

Clinical Infectious Diseases 2008;46:4857 2008 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All

rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contactjournalpermissions@press.uchicago.edu.

1058-4838/2008/4603-0033$15.00DOI: 10.1086/525537

Antibiotics Basics ForClinicians: Choosing theRight Antibacterial AgentAlan R. Hauser

Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins,2007320 pp., illustrated. $32.95

The book Antibiotic Basics For Clinicians:Choosing the Right Antibacterial Agent isdesigned to accomplish the daunting task of creating a basic review on a compli-cated, multifaceted topic. The book is di-vided into 4 sections: Bacterial Basics, An-tibacterial Agents, Denitive Therapy,andEmpirical Therapy. Each chapter has sev-eral review questions, with answers pro-vided in the back of the text. In addition,12 clinical cases are provided, as are 50overall review questions, both with dis-cussion and answers. There are also nu-merous dosage tables provided. The au-thors intention is that the book will serveas a guide to antibacterials formedicalstu-dents, residents, and practicing physiciansand that it will provide a bridge betweendidactic knowledge acquired during therst 2 years of medical school and the en-trenched prescribing habits acquired by clinicians. The author states that a busy student or physician can read the book in12 weeks.

The author has accomplished his goals,because this book is an excellent primeron antibacterials and provides informa-tion in an abbreviated, nonlofty manner.

The chapters are written in a way thatskimming of sections to get to the im-portant information is not required; the

authors pares the information downto theessentials. The book also adds an extralayer of knowledge usually acquired be-

tween course work and seasoned clinicalexperience. In the area of infectious dis-eases, students and residents are oftenummoxed by having to choose amongdifferent antibiotics and to identify themost appropriate choice for a given situ-ation. This book reinforces fundamentalprinciples to consider and apply whenchoosing appropriate antibacterial ther-apy.

Engaging methods are used to presentmaterial: gures display the sites of infec-tion for various organisms; charts display the antimicrobial activity of agents, withCAUTION, GO, and STOP signs for eachtypeof organism class (e.g., quinolonesforanaerobic bacteria is given a caution sign);mechanisms of resistance are displayedvi-sually in gures; and memorization cuesare provided for topics such as the anti-microbial activity of the cephalosporins.

At times, the book can oversimplify topics, but this is not so much a weakness

of the book as much as it is a collateraleffect in accomplishing the main goal inproviding a basic guide to antibacterials.For example, acquiring a comprehensivelist of potential adverse effects (e.g., line-zolid and peripheral/optic neuropathies)would require referring to other resources.In addition, there are a few instances inwhich major antibacterial indications arenot listed for a particular agent (e.g., tri-methoprim-sulfamethoxazole and Pneu-mocystis carinii pneumonia).

If students, residents, and practicingphysicians invest their time in reading thisbook, they will be rewarded with a goodantibacterial review that brings togethermicrobiology, pharmacology, and diseasestate management thatwill makethe ques-tion which antibiotic should this patientbe receiving less overwhelming.

Future volumes planned by the author

include antivirals, antifungals, and anti-parasitics, which would provide a com-plete spectrum of infectious diseases

treatment.

Amy L. Pakyz

School of Pharmacy,Virginia Commonwealth

University, Richmond

The Intelligent MicrobeJean-Claude Pechere

Paris, France: Frison Roche, 2007.240 pp., illustrated. 35.00 EUR (paper).

No, this book is not a science ctionbook,as the title may suggest. The Intelligent Mi-crobe is not the description of an imagi-nary warbetween human beingsand sometiny creatures that, on account of the mu-tations experienced during a nuclear war,have become intelligent beings whothreaten the survival of our species. Incontrast, according to the authors owndenition, The intention of this book is

to present the notion of cooperative mi-crobes being far more benecial to man-kind than harmful (p. 119). Dr. Pechereoffers an exciting journey into the worldof both prokaryotes and eukaryotesthatis, a journey into our planet, which pos-sesses eminent microbial life. In principle,the book could be classied as a popularscience book; however, when the readerdelves deeper into its content, he or shemay realize that the book is an essay inwhich the author offers a very personalview of microbes and, in particular, de-nes his philosophy of life. It describesbasic microbial biology in a simple man-ner, from DNAreplication tosexualityandfrom energy procurement to messagetransmission. This allows the book to bescientically didactic, which may be of in-terest to the nonspecialist reader of mi-crobiology. The chapters are strewn with