Medical Microbiology: with STUDENT CONSULT Online Access (Murray, Medical Microbiology)

• Focuses on why the biologic properties of organisms are important to disease in humans, equipping you with a practical understanding of microbiology.
  
• Examines etiology, epidemiology, host defenses, identification, diagnosis, prevention, and control for each microbe in consistently organized chapters, enabling you to find the information you need fast.
  
• Features summary tables and text boxes that emphasize essential concepts and learning issues, enabling you to make your exam review more efficient.
  
• Correlates basic science with clinical practice through review questions at the end of each chapter to help you understand the clinical relevance of the organisms examined.
  
• Uses clinical cases from literature reports to illustrate the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases.

• Features revised artwork-more than 635 brilliant images, nearly all in full color-that offers a more consistent and modern approach to the study of medical microbiology.
  
• Provides more clinical photographs throughout that help you better understand the clinical applications of microbiology.
  
• Offers expanded use of summary boxes for bacteria throughout all organism chapters to further enhance your review and learning.
  
• Includes enhanced Student Consult features including self-assessment questions, clinical cases, animations showing the actions of various important toxins, and a PowerPoint presentation with supplemental images of organisms and stains.

Well, why do that? First of all, because the material itself--how viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other infectious organisms enter the body, replicate, and cause disease--is fascinating and of immediate relevance to our lives. Second because (to my knowledge) there is little or nothing else available to the general reader that goes beyond a sketchy introduction to the subject. One is forced to read a text book. Fortunately this is a good one and it is thorough.

The text covers the range of infectious disease from viruses to tapeworms. The amount of technical information presented is daunting, and the sheer expanse of terminology a challenge (why is there no glossary?). The text is lavishly illustrated with photos and electron micrographs of the pathogens, as well as numerous schematic drawings showing how microorganisms cause disease, how they replicate, their chemical structure, their morphology, etc.

The instructional schematic drawings I found less valuable than the electron micrographs, but I suspect for the student of microbiology it might be the other way around.

What you'll get out of this handsome book depends on how much time and energy you are able to devote to it. I started reading this in the hope that I would, perhaps by osmosis, pick up some feel for life at the micron level, and I did. Obviously if I had been able to study the text with the help of an instructor, I would have learned a lot more.


IT'S SUPERLATIVE!   May 18, 2002
reviewer (Zurich, Switzerland.)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

Without questions, this superlative text ranks among the finest and the most up-to-date package on medical microbiology. It demonstrates that this interesting branch of medicine can be both versatile and concise. The book is full of valuable illustrations which students can depend on for quick revisions. Ubiquitous tables, colourful charts and figures all help to accelerate comprehension. Also, there are two additional sections whose chapters handled Immunology and Parasitology in significant detail.
No single textbook may be without shortcomings, but I sincerely recommend this one.