- Hardcover: 332 pages
- Publisher: Henry (Joseph) Press (22 Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0309076382
- ISBN-13: 978-0309076388
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,764,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
So you think modern medicine has the whole virus game figured out? Think again. And it's not even a question of "if" we'll be hit by some new and deadly disease - it's "when." The war on germs is being fought on many fronts - from the skirmishes with disease-carrying mosquitoes that cross oceans hidden away in airline wheel wells to the high-profile battle against terrorists wielding deadly bioweapons. Today's, bold headlines would have us believe that the biggest threat comes from bioterrorism. But don't underestimate Mother Nature, perhaps the most savage bioterrorist of all. Assisted by the increasing ease with which people - and the germs they carry - move across international borders, she's an effective force to be reckoned with, a key player on this battlefield.As author Madeline Drexler makes clear, we'd do best not to ignore her. Human beings and the pathogens that attack them are crossing paths more and more frequently, particularly as modern life grows increasingly complex. Whatever the infectious agent may be, whether it's pandemic flu, foodborne illness, a debilitating disease carried far and wide by biting insects, or some new microbial horror we have yet to detect, keen surveillance and rapid response are really the only weapons in our arsenal."Secret Agents" looks at today's new and emerging infections - those that have increased in attack rate or geographic range, or threaten to do so - and tells the stories of scientists racing to catch up with invisible adversaries superior in both speed and guile. Each chapter focuses on a different threat: foodborne pathogens, antibiotic resistance, animals and insectborne diseases, pandemic influenza, infectious causes of chronic disease, and bioterrorism, including the latest information on the public health threats posed by anthrax and diseases such as smallpox.Based in part on material collected from the Forum on Emerging Infections hosted by the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C., "Secret Agents" is ultimately as engaging as it is disturbing. Drexler's thorough survey of the field of infectious disease, supplemented by extensive interviews with today's top researchers, yields a compelling portrait of a world engaged in a clandestine war. Emerging infections are among the many secret ties that bind the world into an organic whole. We know that infectious disease is an inescapable part of life, but we need to begin thinking globally and acting locally if we are to avoid the menace of a catastrophic outbreak of some new plague. "Secret Agents" sounds a clear and compelling call to take up arms against the organic predators among us.
About the Author
Madeline Drexler
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Amazon.com:
21 reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Best of the bunch.
7 Feb 2002
Format:Hardcover
I've read several other books on this same sort of topic, including the seminal work by Laurie Garrett, The Coming Plauge. This new entry into the category of books devoted to germs is a genuine winner. I couldn't put this one down. There's no doubt that this stuff is scary. After reading "Secret Agents" you kind of figure that you shouldn't eat, drink, breathe, or go on too many picnics where you might come into contact with disease carrying insects. But the bottom line is that these frightening facts are not the stuff of some novelist's imagination -- this stuff is true. Which makes it even more disturbing -- and compelling -- to read. Even though bioterrorism is much on everyone's mind these days, Drexler reminds us that most of the diseases that would be weaponized and used against us are the creation of good old Mother Nature. And She's perfectly capable of packing a wallop all on her own. The writing is sharp and crisp, the germ-hunting stories fascinating. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good scientific detective story. If you enjoy it as much as I did, you'll end up finishing this in one sitting.
P.S. Cool cover (catch that dead crow, the sentinel of doom that announces the presence of diseases like West Nile).
P.S. Cool cover (catch that dead crow, the sentinel of doom that announces the presence of diseases like West Nile).
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
The Menace of Everything
12 Mar 2003
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Madeline Drexler's book is as frightening as she wants it to be. Secret Agents is a gripping, well-written fast read that should deeply frighten everyone on first glance. The subtitle is the menace of emerging infections but it could almost be changed to the menace of everything. There seems little escape from the possible scenarios she clearly presents (and this clarity is definately one of the book's strengths as she makes bio-science quite understandable for the layperson.) The chapter on the West Nile Virus that begins the book is particularly exciting and will the hook the reader immediately. If one pauses to look at the actual numbers, the book is somewhat less frightening as the numbers of deaths are always substantially below many of the doom-sayers' predictions, although she will repeatedly tell the reader this may not always be so. A fascinating book for our times.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Bugs at Work
11 Feb 2002
Format:Hardcover
In "Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections," author Madeline Drexler takes us deep into the world of fast-moving microorganisms that can sicken people and end lives before doctors, hospitals or health agencies know what hit. Drexler shows "the bugs" at work in a well-chosen group of past and potential public health crises, including the West Nile virus's surprise hop across the Atlantic and the inevitable next influenza pandemic. With clarity and style, Drexler depicts in detail the characters in each drama: the amazingly adaptable bugs and the scientists and agency officials who must face them down. Meticulously researched, "Secret Agents" presents not only the scientific, but also the historic, political and economic contexts of approaching the seemingly intractable public health issues raised by the bugs. In the end, Drexler writes, such problems can only be addressed in a global context, in the interests of both rich and poor countries and the people who inhabit them. A fascinating read.
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