Remarkable achievements in parasitic disease research, both basic and translational, have occurred over the last ten years, and we have incorporated the majority of these into the 6th edition of Parasitic Diseases. We have added over 1,000 new references to document these advances. Innovative work in the laboratory has provided the clinician/research scientist with a much clearer understanding of the mechanisms of pathogenesis. The number of recently discovered interleukins and their cellular networks has completely re-ordered our comprehension of how parasites and our defense system works to produce protection against infection/reinfection, or in some cases, how it becomes subverted by the offending pathogen to enable it to endure inside us for long periods of time. A plethora of molecular-based diagnostic tests have found their way into the routine of the parasitology diagnostic laboratory, improving the ease at which the offending pathogen can be rapidly identifed. Newer drugs, many with less harmful side-effects than the ones they replaced, have come on the market that make controlling parasite populations at the community level possible without the risk of harming the very ones we wish to help.

Hardcover

Diagnostic Medical Parasitology covers all aspects of human medical parasitology and provides detailed, comprehensive, relevant diagnostic methods in one volume. The new edition incorporates newly recognized parasites, discusses new and improved diagnostic methods, and covers relevant regulatory requirements and has expanded sections detailing artifact material and histological diagnosis, supplemented with color images throughout the text.

Worldwide, the numbers of people suffering and dying from parasitic diseases are overwhelming, with more than 100 million cases and 1 million deaths each year from malaria alone. Despite the magnitude of the problem and the importance of the parasites that cause opportunistic infections among persons with HIV/AIDS, medical schools in the United States, Canada, and other developed countries consistently reduce the amount of time spent on parasitic diseases in the curricu lum. As a result most medical students receive limited information about these diseases, and are inadequately prepared to diagnose or treat them as physicians. This problem is too large to be resolved within the time available for parasitology in the medical school curriculum; at most, students can be acquainted with the salient features of the medically important parasites. Likewise, the traditional isolation of parasitology from the rest of the curriculum (consistent with its exclu sion from most microbiology texts) is another unresolved problem. In my opinion, this is why most physicians are unable to think about the differential diagnosis of parasitic diseases in the same way that they routinely balance the probabilities of malignancy, cardiovascular, renal, and pulmonary disease vs other infectious diseases. To resolve these problems, relevant paradigms from parasitology must be used in the teaching of cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, and immu nology.

Rely on this concise, systematic introduction to the biology and epidemiology of human parasitic diseases. Explore an extensive series of photographs, line drawings, and plates that aid in the recognition of medically-relevant parasites and help to build a solid understanding of the fundamentals of diagnosis and treatment.

Textbook on parasitic diseases

The new edition of this textbook is a complete guide to parasitology for undergraduate medical students. Divided into 23 chapters, each topic has been thoroughly updated and expanded to cover the most recent advances and latest knowledge in the field. The book begins with an overview of parasitology, then discusses numerous different types of parasite, concluding with a chapter on diagnosis methods. Many chapters have been rewritten and the eighth edition of the book features many new tables, flow charts and photographs. Each chapter concludes with a ‘key points’ box to assist with revision. Key points Eighth edition providing undergraduates with a complete guide to parasitology Fully revised text with many new topics, tables and photographs Each chapter concludes with ‘key points’ box to assist revision Previous edition (9789350905340) published in 2013