Infections Of Leisure

Rating:
Summary: In someways an antidote to hypochondria
Review: I bought this book a few months ago, and after some thought on it's relevance to canoe-tripping,I wanted to bring it to the attention of others. Despite the fact that this book is published by the American Society for Microbiology, no specialized background in medicine is needed to fully enjoy it .The overall concept of this book is a review of diseases and micro-oganisms that can affect the outdoor traveler. It contains sections on toxic marine organisms. (As well as the nasty things you can get from your dog, cat, bird, rose garden, or exotic cuisine) Even barracudas and jellyfish get a mention. The chapter "At the Shore"covers red tide,shellfish poisoning, pufferfish, moray eels, and traumatic marine wounds. The chapter "Freshwater: from Lakes to Hot Tubs" covers skin-eye-ear infections resulting from freshwater immersion. "The Camper's Uninvited Guests" chapter covers Lyme Disease,Giardia, and various mosquito-born diseases, relevant to the North American (and elsewhere) paddler. Topics of other chapters include "Transmission of Infectious Diseases during Sporting Activities", "Traveling Abroad", and "STD's and Travel". It is difficult to imagine how the editor of this multi-authored text managed to find 19 contributors with BOTH the expertise AND a sense of humor to create this small (430 pages with extensive bibliography and index) text. It is wonderful! It also received a glowing review this Spring in the

Journal of the American Medical Association, which means it is probably available at most medical libraries. (Actually as a result of the JAMA review, I had to wait 4 months on backorder to get a copy!) . This is a very "readable book".. cover to cover. It discusses health and safety topics that come up from time-to-time in Usenet discussions . AND it IS "authoritative" ! Although it is too specialized to go into even an expeditionary medical officer's kit,little of the information presented here is beyond the potential experience of North American paddlers of the Pacific,Gulf, or Atlantic coasts, and inland lakes and waterways.Some sections would also be of particular interest to those paddling in SE Asia, or coastal Australia. My wife, Wendy, who does not have a medical background,read this book also. She found it gave a wealth of information on topics that she has seen elsewhere, but rarely had the patience to try and read the dry and complicated explanations, prior to this book Her passing review of this book was a laugh and the comment "Infections of Leisure" sounds like a wretched translation from the French of a collection of poems by Baudelaire (or was it Mallarme or Rimbaud?) Anyway...it is well worth the price, both in the information presented, and the literary style employed. Rich Dempsey [e-mail] [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: In someways an antidote to hypochondria
Review: I bought this book a few months ago, and after some thought on it's relevance to canoe-tripping,I wanted to bring it to the attention of others. Despite the fact that this book is published by the American Society for Microbiology, no specialized background in medicine is needed to fully enjoy it .The overall concept of this book is a review of diseases and micro-oganisms that can affect the outdoor traveler. It contains sections on toxic marine organisms. (As well as the nasty things you can get from your dog, cat, bird, rose garden, or exotic cuisine) Even barracudas and jellyfish get a mention. The chapter "At the Shore"covers red tide,shellfish poisoning, pufferfish, moray eels, and traumatic marine wounds. The chapter "Freshwater: from Lakes to Hot Tubs" covers skin-eye-ear infections resulting from freshwater immersion. "The Camper's Uninvited Guests" chapter covers Lyme Disease,Giardia, and various mosquito-born diseases, relevant to the North American (and elsewhere) paddler. Topics of other chapters include "Transmission of Infectious Diseases during Sporting Activities", "Traveling Abroad", and "STD's and Travel". It is difficult to imagine how the editor of this multi-authored text managed to find 19 contributors with BOTH the expertise AND a sense of humor to create this small (430 pages with extensive bibliography and index) text. It is wonderful! It also received a glowing review this Spring in the

Journal of the American Medical Association, which means it is probably available at most medical libraries. (Actually as a result of the JAMA review, I had to wait 4 months on backorder to get a copy!) . This is a very "readable book".. cover to cover. It discusses health and safety topics that come up from time-to-time in Usenet discussions . AND it IS "authoritative" ! Although it is too specialized to go into even an expeditionary medical officer's kit,little of the information presented here is beyond the potential experience of North American paddlers of the Pacific,Gulf, or Atlantic coasts, and inland lakes and waterways.Some sections would also be of particular interest to those paddling in SE Asia, or coastal Australia. My wife, Wendy, who does not have a medical background,read this book also. She found it gave a wealth of information on topics that she has seen elsewhere, but rarely had the patience to try and read the dry and complicated explanations, prior to this book Her passing review of this book was a laugh and the comment "Infections of Leisure" sounds like a wretched translation from the French of a collection of poems by Baudelaire (or was it Mallarme or Rimbaud?) Anyway...it is well worth the price, both in the information presented, and the literary style employed. Rich Dempsey [e-mail] [e-mail]