Author(s): "Scientific American" (Edited by)

Science

The international public health scare that resulted last year when a man infected with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis flew overseas from the United States and back illustrates both the fear and the potential impact of highly infectious diseases in a global age. At a time when scientists warn of the potential for an influenza epidemic to rival the deadly outbreak of 1919 and newspapers feature alarming headlines about incidences of mad cow disease, infectious disease will be a critical area of concern and scientific study in the twenty-first century."Infectious Disease" collects thirty of the most exciting, innovative, and significant articles on communicable illness published in the pages of "Scientific American" magazine since 1993. With sections devoted to viral infections, infectious disease, the immune system, and global management and treatment issues, "Infectious Disease" provides general readers and students with an excellent overview of recent research in the field. Roger I. Glass discusses a potential vaccine for the rotavirus - a leading cause of severe childhood diarrhea worldwide and frequent killer of young children in developing nations. Jeffery K.