Infectious Diseases and Conditions

This 3-volume set is an A-Z encyclopedia covering all aspects of infectious diseases and their prevention, offering historical and technical background with a balanced discussion of discoveries, developments, and prognoses. This new three-volume set presents essays on a variety of topics in infectious, or communicable, diseases. An infectious disease develops when a pathogen invades an organism and multiplies, followed by host symptomology and impairment. Pathogens--bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, prions, and parasites--invade with the help of biting vectors, such as mosquitoes and flies, and with the help of the hosts themselves, who ingest, inhale, or otherwise come in contact with the pathogen. Plus, the purchase of the printed set entitles a school or library to three years of complimentary online access to Infectious Diseases & Conditions's content. - Publisher.