Have bacteria won?
By: Hugh Pennington
Series: New human frontiers series; New human frontiers series
Publisher: Polity Press; Polity
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 146
ISBN-13: 9780745690797; 9780745690803
Subjects: World health; Epidemics; Viruses; Treatment; Communicable diseases; Bacteria; Prevention; History
Description: Today, we are far less likely to die from infection than at any other time in history, but still we worry about epidemics, the menace of antibiotic resistance and modern ‘plagues’ like Ebola. In this timely new book, eminent bacteriologist Hugh Pennington explores why these fears remain and why they are unfounded. He reports on outright victories (such as smallpox), battles where the enemy is on its last stand (polio), surprise attacks from vegetarian bats (Ebola, SARS) and demented cows (BSE). Qualified optimism, he argues, is the message for the future but the battles will go on forever. -- Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 134-140) and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Why are we so worried about bacteria?; title: 2. Victories; title: 3. The advance of the mutants, and other novelties; title: 4. How our actions help bacteria to win some battles; title: 5. Politics.