The emergence of pathogens resistant to conventional antimicrobial agents has forced us to intensify the efforts in search for new approaches to prevent infectious diseases. Such a direction was indicated in studies over the last two decades showing that adhesion of pathogens, primarily via glycoconjugate or protein receptors of the host tissue, is crucial for the infectious process. Moreover, it was found that infection can be prevented by blocking adhesion of the pathogen to mucosal surfaces of the host. The various aspects of interference with the process of microbial adhesion as a way of preventing diseases were the subject of the Bat-Sheva Seminar, "Towards Anti-Adhesion Therapy of Microbial Infectious Diseases," held in Zichron Yaakov, Israel, February 25 to March I, 1996. A major aim of the Bat-Sheva de Rothschild Foundation for the Advancement of Science in Israel, which sponsors a series of seminars, ours among them, is to provide the necessary tools and settings for international forums and exposure of young scientists and promising students to the state of the art of the field. This goal has been achieved during the week's discussions, and its major aspects are presented in this compendium. The seminar's participants, as well as the readers of this book, thank the founder and Foundation for their support. This book includes the major themes of this rapidly growing area. However, by no means do we intend to cover every bit and piece in it. The book's first section deals with the lectin-sugar interactions and their inhibitors.

Attachment to host cells or tissues is often the first step in the establishment of bacterial infections. A complex array of recognition, attachment, and virulence factors is involved in this process, which recent research has greatly illuminated. This comprehensive and authoritative volume discusses the specific cell and tissue-specific affinities of pathogenic microorganisms, including bioinorganic surfaces such as teeth, and is an essential reference for researchers and students of host-pathogen interactions.

This book will cover both the evidence for biofilms in many chronic bacterial infections as well as the problems facing these infections such as diagnostics and treatment regimes. A still increasing interest and emphasis on the sessile bacterial lifestyle biofilms has been seen since it was realized that that less than 0.1% of the total microbial biomass lives in the planktonic mode of growth. The term was coined in 1978 by Costerton et al. who defined the term biofilm for the first time.In 1993 the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) recognised that the biofilmmode of growth was relevant to microbiology. Lately many articles have been published on the clinical implications of bacterial biofilms. Both original articles and reviews concerning the biofilm problem are available.

“Uses [pneumonia] as a vehicle for examining the evolution of therapeutics in America between the ‘Golden Age of Microbiology’ and the ‘Age of Antibiotics.’”—Isis Focusing largely on the treatment of pneumonia in first half of the century with type-specific serotherapy, clinician-historian Scott H. Podolsky provides insight into the rise and clinical evaluation of therapeutic “specifics,” the contested domains of private practice and public health, and—as the treatment of pneumonia made the transition from serotherapy to chemotherapy and antibiotics—the tempo and mode of therapeutic change itself. Type-specific serotherapy, founded on the tenets of applied immunology, justified by controlled clinical trials, and grounded in a novel public ethos, was deemed revolutionary when it emerged to replace supportive therapeutics. With the advent of the even more revolutionary sulfa drugs and antibiotics, pneumonia ceased to be a public health concern and became instead an illness treated in individual patients by individual physicians. Podolsky describes the new therapeutics and the scientists and practitioners who developed and debated them. He finds that, rather than representing a barren era in anticipation of some unknown transformation to come, the first decades of the twentieth-century shaped the use of, and reliance upon, the therapeutic specific throughout the century and beyond. This intriguing study will interest historians of medicine and science, policymakers, and clinicians alike. “Podolsky’s scholarship is awesome, and his grasp of the philosophical and sociologic context of the issues considered make this an important work.” —New England Journal of Medicine “This thoroughly documented, carefully written book is a landmark analysis . . . It should be read by everyone who is involved in research and therapeutic development.” —JAMA

The use of drugs in food animal production has resulted in benefits throughout the food industry; however, their use has also raised public health safety concerns. The Use of Drugs in Food Animals provides an overview of why and how drugs are used in the major food-producing animal industriesâ€"poultry, dairy, beef, swine, and aquaculture. The volume discusses the prevalence of human pathogens in foods of animal origin. It also addresses the transfer of resistance in animal microbes to human pathogens and the resulting risk of human disease. The committee offers analysis and insight into these areas: Monitoring of drug residues. The book provides a brief overview of how the FDA and USDA monitor drug residues in foods of animal origin and describes quality assurance programs initiated by the poultry, dairy, beef, and swine industries. Antibiotic resistance. The committee reports what is known about this controversial problem and its potential effect on human health. The volume also looks at how drug use may be minimized with new approaches in genetics, nutrition, and animal management.

The molecular age has brought about dramatic changes in medical microbiology, and great leaps in our understanding of the mechanisms of infectious disease. Molecular Medical Microbiology is the first book to synthesise the many new developments in both molecular and clinical research in a single comprehensive resource. This timely and authoritative three-volume work is an invaluable reference source of medical bacteriology. Comprising more than 100 chapters, organized into 17 major sections, the scope of this impressive work is wide-ranging. Written by experts in the field, chapters include cutting-edge information, and clinical overviews for each major bacterial group, in addition to the latest updates on vaccine development, molecular technology and diagnostic technology. Topics covered include bacterial structure, cell function, and genetics; mechanisms of pathogenesis and prevention; antibacterial agents; and infections ranging from gastrointestinal to urinary tract, centrtal nervous system, respiratory tract, and more. - The first comprehensive and accessible reference on molecular medical microbiology - Full color presentation througout - In-depth discussion of individual pathogenic bacteria in a system-oriented approach - Includes a clinical overview for each major bacterial group - Presents the latest information on vaccine development, molecular technology, and diagnostic technology - More than 100 chapters covering all major groups of bacteria - Written by an international panel of authors who are experts in their respective disciplines