1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451426903321

Autore

Oldstone Michael B. A

Titolo

Viruses, plagues, and history [[electronic resource] /] / Michael B.A. Oldstone

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford, : Oxford University Press, 1998

ISBN

1-282-40293-5

1-280-83418-8

9786612402937

0-19-802775-3

0-19-532731-4

0-19-975484-5

9786610834181

0-19-535074-X

Edizione

[Rev. and updated ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (240 p.)

Disciplina

614.57

Soggetti

Virus diseases - History

Medicine - History

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Viruses, plagues, and history. A general introduction. Introduction to the principles of virology. Introduction to the principles of immunology -- Success stories. Smallpox. Yellow fever. Measles virus. Poliomyelitis -- Present and future challenges. An overview of newly emerging viral plagues : the hemorrhagic fevers. Lassa fever. Ebola. Hantavirus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) : the first pandemic of the twenty-first century. West Nile virus : deaths of crows and humans. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) : AIDS, the current plague. Mad cow disease and Englishmen : spongiform encephalopathies-Prion disease. Influenza virus, the plague that may return. Conclusions and future predictions.

Sommario/riassunto

The story of viruses and the story of humanity have been intertwined since the dawn of history. The first small cities formed not only the



cradle of civilization, but the spawning ground for the earliest viral epidemics, the first opportunity for viruses to find a home in the human herd. This is a story of fear and ignorance, as everything from demons and the wrath of the gods to minority groups have been blamed for epidemics from smallpox to yellow fever to AIDS. It is a story of grief and heartbreak, as hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, are wiped out in a single year. And it is a st