Travel Medicine
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
Let such teach others who themselves excel . . .
— Alexander Pope
Emporiatrics, or travel medicine, as a specialty has been slow in evolving. The growing fascination with diverse cultures in extreme latitudes, with enthrallingly adventurous exploration, and with the lure of exotic food may yet succumb to the frustrations of flight delays, baggage hassles, and catastrophic threats. However, some post-travel "souvenirs" are unidentified by customs agents, and practitioners who cannot recognize them need this encyclopedic textbook with its enclosed CD-ROM.
The book's five key editors have solicited chapters in various specialties from recognized experts, who provide a highly accessible resource on today's ubiquitous medical problems associated with travel. The CD-ROM is replete with links to informative Web sites, recommendations concerning prophylaxis and vaccines, extensive tables and maps, information about potentially dangerous food and water, and selected photographs. These features facilitate the preparation of slide presentations.
The 11 sections, divided into 57 chapters, contain numerous nuggets, including a glossary of tropical diseases, descriptions of emerging infections, information about travel kits, cost charts for water filters, and helpful hints regarding the aviophobia of the "white knuckle" airline passenger. The section on the risks and prevention of malaria explores the world's most dangerous vector, with reference to future research on the mosquito genome (Figure). Also discussed are the steps involved in starting a travel clinic, selective care of the corporate traveler, measures for international adoptions, medical facilities for expatriates, and telephone and Web sources for immediate health assistance. Also outlined are topics related to field management with the use of hyperbaric-oxygen therapy (as with a Gamow bag) for altitude sickness, the bites of arthropods and reptiles, and marine disasters. There is a gratifying lack of overlap in subject matter, unlike the approach of many other multiauthor textbooks.
Anopheles gambiae, the Primary Vector of Malaria.
Courtesy of James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One hopes that future editions will incorporate additional historical vignettes documenting the medical hardships faced by early explorers, such as Captain Cook, who received gifts of ocean sunfish laden with tetrodotoxin; Charles Darwin, who experienced five years of mal de mer on the HMS Beagle; and Alexander von Humboldt, who climbed to 18,000 feet without ancillary oxygen support, to name a few.
Aside from my own historical bias, the premise of the book — to extend the scope of travel-related medical knowledge, a goal set forth by members of the International Society of Travel Medicine in 1999 — has been amply fulfilled. One almost hesitates to bid bon voyage to Travel Medicine since there are so many diseases that patients can contract abroad, making post-travel diagnosis a serious challenge. The ileus of botulism and the weight loss of giardiasis — as well as the intractable pruritus of strongyloidiasis, the seizures of neurocysticercosis, the vitamin B12–related anemia of diphyllobothriasis, and all the other woes caused by the meandering of nematodes into sundry body orifices — should alert clinicians to make an early diagnosis in their care of the modern traveler. Travel Medicine, with its carefully crafted CD-ROM, really shines, eliciting prismatic plaudits for the versatile authors of this encyclopedic classic.
Martin E. Gordon, M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, CT 06510
martin.gordon@yale.edu(Edited by Jay S. Keystone)
— Alexander Pope
Emporiatrics, or travel medicine, as a specialty has been slow in evolving. The growing fascination with diverse cultures in extreme latitudes, with enthrallingly adventurous exploration, and with the lure of exotic food may yet succumb to the frustrations of flight delays, baggage hassles, and catastrophic threats. However, some post-travel "souvenirs" are unidentified by customs agents, and practitioners who cannot recognize them need this encyclopedic textbook with its enclosed CD-ROM.
The book's five key editors have solicited chapters in various specialties from recognized experts, who provide a highly accessible resource on today's ubiquitous medical problems associated with travel. The CD-ROM is replete with links to informative Web sites, recommendations concerning prophylaxis and vaccines, extensive tables and maps, information about potentially dangerous food and water, and selected photographs. These features facilitate the preparation of slide presentations.
The 11 sections, divided into 57 chapters, contain numerous nuggets, including a glossary of tropical diseases, descriptions of emerging infections, information about travel kits, cost charts for water filters, and helpful hints regarding the aviophobia of the "white knuckle" airline passenger. The section on the risks and prevention of malaria explores the world's most dangerous vector, with reference to future research on the mosquito genome (Figure). Also discussed are the steps involved in starting a travel clinic, selective care of the corporate traveler, measures for international adoptions, medical facilities for expatriates, and telephone and Web sources for immediate health assistance. Also outlined are topics related to field management with the use of hyperbaric-oxygen therapy (as with a Gamow bag) for altitude sickness, the bites of arthropods and reptiles, and marine disasters. There is a gratifying lack of overlap in subject matter, unlike the approach of many other multiauthor textbooks.
Anopheles gambiae, the Primary Vector of Malaria.
Courtesy of James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One hopes that future editions will incorporate additional historical vignettes documenting the medical hardships faced by early explorers, such as Captain Cook, who received gifts of ocean sunfish laden with tetrodotoxin; Charles Darwin, who experienced five years of mal de mer on the HMS Beagle; and Alexander von Humboldt, who climbed to 18,000 feet without ancillary oxygen support, to name a few.
Aside from my own historical bias, the premise of the book — to extend the scope of travel-related medical knowledge, a goal set forth by members of the International Society of Travel Medicine in 1999 — has been amply fulfilled. One almost hesitates to bid bon voyage to Travel Medicine since there are so many diseases that patients can contract abroad, making post-travel diagnosis a serious challenge. The ileus of botulism and the weight loss of giardiasis — as well as the intractable pruritus of strongyloidiasis, the seizures of neurocysticercosis, the vitamin B12–related anemia of diphyllobothriasis, and all the other woes caused by the meandering of nematodes into sundry body orifices — should alert clinicians to make an early diagnosis in their care of the modern traveler. Travel Medicine, with its carefully crafted CD-ROM, really shines, eliciting prismatic plaudits for the versatile authors of this encyclopedic classic.
Martin E. Gordon, M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, CT 06510
martin.gordon@yale.edu(Edited by Jay S. Keystone)