A return to tropical medicine

Two more editors have been added to the second edition of the Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine. In addition, nearly 30 experts with appointments in various parts of the world have contributed their knowledge of broad areas. Miraculously, the editors have retained the compact style of this book, keeping it below 700 pages. The compact physical dimensions and flexible but strong water-repellant cover enables the practitioner to tuck this book into a laboratory coat pocket.The Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine (2nd edn) is organized in a way that first sets the stage with the World Health Organization (WHO; http://www.who.int/en/) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF; http://www.unicef.org/) approach to the integrated management of childhood illness in a concise manner that emphasizes teaching the mother. Next, the major serious diseases found in the tropics are covered, including malaria, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, diarrheal illness and acute respiratory infections. The rest of the chapters cover systems such as cardiology and gastroenterology but, before these, there is a section about multisystem diseases and infections that includes such conditions as fever and rheumatoid arthritis. The final sections are about nutrition, injuries – including burns – poisonings and snakebites (spider bites are not included), and immunizations. There are 32 color plates concentrated into four pages that illustrate mainly microscopic preparations of microorganisms, especially malarial parasites. The white spaces in the book enable the reader to add their own notations to the various topics covered.The emphasis of this book is medicine in the field and, therefore, some topics that usually are discussed over many pages, such as osteoarthritis in developed countries, are handled succinctly in this volume. In some cases, the sophistication of the content is uneven; for example, the HLA link in rheumatoid arthritis is mentioned in very general, not up-to-date terms and without relating the information to its use in the tropical setting. In other sections such as the one about ophthalmology, excellent and succinct tables compare features for diagnosis and treatment. The gastroenterology section also has particularly useful diagrams and tables, in addition to practical preventive information. The section about diarrheal diseases is also particularly good and even includes a section dealing with situations that might be encountered during treatment. For example, the book discusses how one might respond if the mother of a child with diarrhea believes that food should not be given to the child at this time. In some sections, disease prevention is not a focus and is discussed only minimally. Many behavioral and cultural factors influence practices that can contribute to the acquisition of disease, and these are difficult to cover in a book that must be useful in multiple continents and for multiple ways of living. However, in resource-poor areas, emphasizing prevention seems important. The nutrition section is also strong, with many useful diagrams, management strategies and preventative aspects.In summary, the Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine (2nd edn) will be useful for those practicing medicine and health care in the developing tropical world.