Book and media reviewFuture of Emergency Care (3 volumes)Emergency Care for Children: Growing PainsEmergency Medical Services at the CrossroadsHospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point, Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2006), 1020 pages (3 volumes), $102.74 ISBN 10:0-309-10825-X, 13:978-0-309-10825-6

MANY READERS WILL REMEMBER THE UNIQUE SERIES OF ANAtomical and clinical drawings by Frank Netter that appeared over the years in Ciba’s Clinical Symposia and in the multivolume Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations. Those world-famous illustrations are now being reintroduced in a novel manner, medical specialty by medical specialty. One example is Netter’s Infectious Diseases, an excellent book for the generalist. The editors and authors range from the internationally recognized to those on a clearly rising trajectory. The writing is impressively even throughout the 93 chapters; information is clear, clinically relevant, and presented in a notably interesting style made even more attractive by the effect that Netter’s illustrations have in creating a sense of proximate clinical reality. The influence of Netter’s illustrations is major, providing significant information and making that information easy to remember. The medical artist currently affiliated with the project, cardiologist Carlos Machado, has added to the collection in a similar style. The material covered represents virtually every infectious disease a clinician is likely to encounter in the United States, ranging from AIDS and atypical pneumonia through herpes, rotavirus, and tularemia to West Nile virus infection. These infections are each presented individually and concisely, then helpfully organized into broader sections based on clinical patterns, such as skin, respiratory tract, and systemic infections. A large section is devoted to travel-associated infections, including parasitic diseases associated with immigration and global food distribution. That section includes engaging chapters on Chagas disease, malaria, and the roundworm infections not often considered in patients presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms, even though, as the book reports on page 451, there are an estimated 1 billion cases of Ascaris infection in the world at any given time. A final section discusses emerging infections and pandemic diseases. As a result, readers can quickly get a sense of the diagnostic possibilities that should be considered when faced with an uncertain, possibly infectious illness. Purchase of the book includes a code that provides free access to an Internet site, allowing purchasers to access the entire content online. The website allows readers to download the book’s illustrations for personal use and provides 25 patient brochures that may be downloaded for office use. For readers who do not wish to pay the $90 additional charge for the web access feature, the book is available without it. Not surprisingly, given current advances in publishing, the book is likewise available in an electronic reader edition. The prime focus of Netter’s Infectious Diseases is always on clinical presentation, followed by diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. It is an exciting and gratifying read.