Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine, 5th Edition Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9780198810858 ISBN-10: 0198810857 Copyright: 2021 Edition: 5th Editor: Davidson, Robert, Brent, Andrew, Seale, Anna, Blumberg, Lucille, Doody's Expert Review    Score: 99 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: Kenneth Schaefle,  MD, BA  (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) Description This pocket guide covers the identification and clinical treatment of the conditions and diseases encountered in tropical medicine in both pediatric and adult patients. The four editors are professors, researchers, and specialists in tropical and infectious diseases and epidemiology. The 60+ contributing authors come from many different countries, and all have high levels of expertise. This fifth edition updates the previous edition, published in 2014. Purpose The Oxford Handbook series has been published for over 20 years. Its aim to "provide a practical, inexpensive handbook for clinicians working with tropical diseases" is appropriate. This aim is generally well met, but some suggestions such as CT and MRI imaging are very often too expensive and/or hard to obtain in tropical environments. Audience The book targets clinicians working with tropical diseases, and this broad category ranges from locally trained clinical health officers without advanced training to visiting medical professionals from high-resource environments. The content and descriptions are generally appropriate for this wide range of readers. Features The writing is concise and simple. Most of the book is presented in bullet-point format, which allows for fast and easy scanning. Many tables and inset boxes highlight key information, making key facts easy to locate. Illustrations are very helpful and simple. Treatment algorithms are frequently provided to simplify clinical decision-making. Clinical practice recommendations are tightly correlated and referenced to WHO practice guidelines. References to sources, websites, and further information are appropriately provided. The major topic sections are color-striped on the handbook's page edges and a concise glossary concludes the volume. Assessment This is a highly useful handbook for clinicians in tropical disease environments. The topics are presented with tremendous clarity and economy of language. The references and sources are up to date. The practical management of medical conditions in the tropics is well covered, including alternative treatment pathways for situations where first-line medical treatment is not possible. For example, for the treatment of soft tissue infections, four antibiotic choices are presented in a rank-order list. However, some topics addressed at multiple points in the volume show some variance in suggested management. For example, in the treatment of new diagnoses of HIV and TB meningitis, one passage suggests first treating TB meningitis for eight weeks before initiating anti-retrovirals for HIV, while another section suggests four to eight weeks. Overall, this is a valuable, one-stop reference manual. The book provides comprehensive information regarding multiple and complex facets of disease identification and management, preventing additional, unnecessary lookups and resources. Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 10 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 5 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 10 ©2025 Doody Enterprises, Inc.