Emerging Infections in Asia

Edited by Yichen Lu, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston

M. Essex, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston

Bryan Roberts, Apex Consulting Group, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Ongoing population shifts, widening health disparities, and rapid genetic mutations are major factors in viral and bacterial dissemination worldwide. At the same time, the role of Asia in the recent SARS and bird flu outbreaks have made that continent a key area of interest. Emerging Infections in Asia offers a comprehensive overview of well studied and lesser-known infectious syndromes affecting local, regional, and international health, concentrating on their greatest areas of transmission. For each disease, contributors provide its historical record, biological structures, methods of transmission, clinical presentation, infection rates, methods of control and prevention, and potential threat to health on a global scale, in clear, accessible fashion.

A sampling of the topics covered:

• Avian flu in Thailand.
• SARS outbreaks in China, Taiwan, and Singapore.
• HIV/AIDS in China.
• Human hemorrhagic fever in Saudi Arabia.
• Drug-resistant TB throughout Asia.
• E. coli in the developing world.

By summarizing the knowledge base at this critical stage, Emerging Infections in Asia aids both epidemiologists and students of epidemiology in their efforts toward preparedness for and prevention of future pandemics. It is a bedrock volume in understanding this most pressing public health issue.

Yichen Lu is the Executive Director at the Institute for International Vaccine Development, Cambridge, MA; the Principal Research Scientist at the Harvard AIDS Institute; and the Special Professor and Director, Nankai Vaccine Laboratory, Nankai University, China.

Max Essex is the Chairman of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health and Chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute.

With many Asian countries experiencing increasing economic growth and globalization, infectious diseases that were once contained in certain pockets of the continent now proliferate throughout its geographical area. It is the alarming prospect of unchecked epidemics that makes this book so crucial. The chapters cover the historical description of infectious diseases, analyze the causes of them and even forecast outbreaks, as well as the regional and global impact of these diseases. There is a pressing need for public health professionals worldwide to know and understand the variety of these infections, the methods through which they are transmitted, and the ways to control and prevent them. This comprehensive text offers them just that.