Manual of Clinical Microbiology - 2 Volume Set, 11th Edition

ISBN: 9781555817374
ISBN-10: 1555817378
Copyright: 2015
Edition: 11th
Editor: Jorgensen, James H., Pfaller, Michael A., Carrol, Karen C., Funke, Guido, Landry, Marie Louise, Richter, Sandra S. ,
Doody's Expert Review    Score: 95
Reviewer: Valerie Ng,  PhD MD  (Alameda County Medical Center/Highland Hospital)
Description
This two-volume, 2,500+ page book is the 11th edition of this well respected authoritative reference in clinical microbiology. The previous edition was published in 2011.
Purpose
The purpose is to provide updates to the ever growing field of clinical microbiology. These are worthy objectives well met by the authors.
Audience
This book is intended for practicing clinical microbiologists. However, it has been, and will continue to be, useful to clinical laboratory scientists (in training or in practice) at any level (e.g., bench scientist, specialist, supervisor, manager). It is also useful to doctoral level laboratory directors and infectious disease practitioners (MD, DO, PharmDs, etc.) who rely heavily on microbiology laboratory results. Finally, it would be of interest to anyone in healthcare interested in clinical microbiology, including providers in virtually all specialties or primary care, and other allied health practitioners (e.g. nurses, physician assistants, etc.).
Features
This edition continues its historical and well-deserved reputation as the authoritative reference for clinical microbiology. Simply put, it's everything you ever wanted or might want to know about clinical microbiology. Updates include new molecular technologies (e.g., MALDI-TOF, nucleic acid sequencing) as well as newly emerged diseases (e.g., carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae, Ebola virus, etc.). To get a sense of its enormity, the subject index alone is at least 120 pages! The chief editors comment this is only the second edition to have a fully searchable, web-based electronic edition. However, there is no obvious relationship between the print version and the ebook version, as there is no online access key. Given the sheer weight of this book, an ebook would be most appreciated, especially if access is automatic with purchase of the print copy. Two small areas of nitpickiness. First, given the complexity of clinical microbiology, a cohesive and broad-based discussion of the overarching principles of a quality management system would have been useful. If readers are truly interested in this subject, Clinical Laboratory Management, 2nd edition, Garcia (ASM Press, 2014), is a great reference. Second, the chapter on prevention of laboratory-acquired infections has no discussion of laboratory-acquired Neisseria meningitides -- a serious omission given the disproportionately increased lethality of these infections, the need to modify workflow processes to avoid exposure, and the availability of a vaccine.
Assessment
Overall, however, this is truly the authoritative reference for clinical microbiology. Get it.
Review Questionnaire
Range Question Score
1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8
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) 4
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. 4
1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book 5
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