33 Attacking the enemy antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy Introduction The interactions between host, microbial pathogen and antimicrobial agent can be considered as a triangle, and any alteration in one side…
26 Infections of the skin, soft tissue, muscle and associated systems Introduction Healthy intact skin protects underlying tissues and provides excellent defence against invading microbes The microbial load of normal…
22 Gastrointestinal tract infections Introduction Ingested pathogens may cause disease confined to the gut or involve other parts of the body Ingestion of pathogens can cause many different infections. These…
21 Sexually transmitted infections Introduction Sexually transmitted infections usually cause diseases In some instances, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may not result in overt disease symptoms, such as in the early…
31 Diagnosis of infection and assessment of host defence mechanisms Introduction Good quality specimens are needed for reliable microbiologic diagnoses The precise identification of the causative organism in infection has…
9 The innate defences of the body Introduction In the preceding chapters, we have outlined some of the fundamental characteristics of the myriad types of microparasites and macroparasites that may…
27 Vector-borne infections Introduction A number of important human diseases, caused by organisms ranging from viruses to worms, are transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods. These vectors inject the organisms into humans…
10 Adaptive responses provide a ‘quantum leap’ in effective defence Introduction Infectious agents frequently find ways around the innate defences In Chapter 9, we discussed the many ways in which…
19 Lower respiratory tract infections Introduction Although the respiratory tract is continuous from the nose to the alveoli, it is convenient to distinguish between infections of the upper and lower…
2 The bacteria Introduction Although free-living bacteria exist in huge numbers, relatively few species cause disease. The majority of these are well known and well studied; however, new pathogens continue…
