Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.

This book is a comprehensive and authoritative source on nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pathogens and diseases and their appropriate management, with a focus on lung disease. NTM diseases, especially lung diseases, are increasing in prevalence in the U.S. and internationally with concomitant growing interest in a broad section of the medical community. Often merely included in coverage of tuberculosis, many aspects of NTM organisms and diseases are actually very different than TB. These differences are not intuitive or trivial and frequently result in suboptimal management of NTM patients. This book addresses these gaps in the literature with chapters on microbiology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, the various diseases that can stem from NTM, and their particular management. There is also coverage on prevention and NTM as a public health problem. For pulmonologists and infectious disease physicians, this is the definitive resource on nontuberculous mycobacteria.

TB is considered as one of the oldest documented infectious diseases in the world and is believed to be the leading cause of mortality due to a single infectious agent. Mtb, the causative agent responsible for TB, continues to afflict millions of people worldwide. Furthermore, one-third of the entire world's population has latent TB. Consequently, there has been a worldwide effort to eradicate and limit the spread of Mtb through the use of antibiotics. However, management of TB is becoming more challenging with the emergence of drug-resistant and multi-drug resistant strains of Mtb. Furthermore, when administered, many of the anti-TB drugs commonly present severe complications and side effects. Novel approaches to enhance the host immune responses to completely eradicate Mtb infection are urgently needed. This Special Issue will therefore cover most recent advances in the area of host-directed therapies for TB.

This work contains updated and clinically relevant information about tuberculosis. It is aimed at providing a succinct overview of history and disease epidemiology, clinical presentation and the most recent scientific developments in the field of tuberculosis research, with an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment. It may serve as a practical resource for students, clinicians and researchers who work in the field of infectious diseases.

This well-illustrated book is a comprehensive guide to the cutaneous clinical presentations of mycobacterial infections. The Mycobacterium genus includes over 170 species, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) having been added to the obligate human pathogens such as M. tuberculosis and M. leprae. NTM are widely distributed in the environment with high isolation rates worldwide; the skin is a major target with variable clinical manifestations. A current resurgence in tuberculosis is aggravated by the synergy with human immunodeficiency virus, the breakdown of health care systems, and the rise in multidrug-resistant disease, as the incidence of leprosy remains stable, at around 250,000 new cases annually, regardless of effective antibiotic therapy. Presentations of various cutaneous infections caused by mycobacteria may be overlooked by clinicians owing the lack of familiarity with tuberculosis, leprosy, and the related NTM clinical features. This handy guide will help the dermatologist to spot the different clinical manifestations, make a prompt diagnosis, and apply effective treatment.

Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM): Microbiological, Clinical and Geographical Distribution is a complete reference that stimulates a greater understanding of NTM infections. Sections cover microbiologic and molecular diagnostic tools, drug susceptibility tests, human genetic susceptibility, prevalence and incidence studies, clinical and radiological presentations, and clinical trials for antibiotic therapy. With the incidence rate of NTM infections increasing globally during the last decade, significant mortality and morbidity must be addressed. This important reference will provide research scientists, clinical microbiologists, hospital diagnostic technicians, and post graduate medical and science students with information on the epidemiology, prevalence, microbiology and clinical aspects of NTM.