Download GIDEON E-Books System

BOOK REVIEWS
Gary P. Wormser, Section Editor
GIDEON E-Books System
Founded by Uri Blackman
and Stephen Berger
Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology
Network (GIDEON)
http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks
Knowing what risk for infections exists
in various locations globally is a difficult
challenge. The world is big and diverse.
The landscape of pathogenic organisms
varies by geography. Many are influenced
by environmental and ecological factors,
such as temperature, rainfall, humidity,
vegetation, and presence of intermediate
and reservoir hosts and competent vectors. Limited or no information exists
about many pathogens for many locations, and the distribution of many pathogens is dynamic. Take, for example, the
emergence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome and the sweep of West
Nile virus infection across the United
States and movement north and south of
our borders. The human immunodeficiency virus–AIDS pandemic has unfolded
in slower motion over recent decades. Resistance patterns for infections as diverse
as tuberculosis, malaria, and typhoid fever
vary across space and also change over
time. Because the movement of people,
animals (and their products), plants, and
goods is unprecedented today in volume,
reach, and speed, we are seeing the juxtaposition of species never before in physical proximity and continued emergence
of new microbial threats [1].
Thus, it is indeed a daunting task to try
to capture what risks are present based on
geographic location. Many clinicians have
Clinical Infectious Diseases 2010; 51(10):1227–1228
2010 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All
rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact
[email protected].
1058-4838/2010/5110-0022$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/656803
long been familiar with the tools and materials of GIDEON (Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network), an online database that provides geographic and
epidemiological information about infectious diseases. The same team has now
developed the GIDEON e-books system.
This massive database, 411 books with
95,000 pages, presents material in 2 formats, by country and by infectious disease.
Data are culled from papers published in
journals, textbooks, Health Ministry publications, and materials from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and the
World Health Organization. These “textbooks” are created by a computer that has
been programmed to identify and collate
relevant data. Each of 347 human infections
is described in an e-book with sections on
epidemiology, clinical features, global status
of the disease, potential use in bioterrorism,
status in each country of the world, and
references. Each country database lists each
infectious disease that is found in that
country and describes epidemiological data
for that country, if available, and lists references. The length of each disease entry
for a country varies from !1 page to 110
pages (eg, AIDS). Basic information about
each infection is displayed in standard format (agent, reservoir, vector, vehicle, incubation period, diagnostic tests, adult
therapy, pediatric therapy, clinical hints,
and synonyms). The length of the e-book
varies by country and disease; for example,
there are 619 pages for China, 439 for Denmark, and 284 for anthrax. These downloadable PDF files were provided for this
review.
The advantages of the system are many.
It is an extraordinary database. It assembles a vast amount of material and makes
it available in a consistent format. It is
reasonably current, though the e-books
will be updated only once a year. The clinician or researcher can access a detailed,
rich database by clicking open an electronic file.
There are also disadvantages. By its very
nature, this type of database relies entirely
on past observations and does not anticipate what may emerge or change in the
future. It also relies on published or publicly posted material, which means that the
dataset from countries with better resources will be more complete; poor countries have limited capacity for surveillance,
diagnosis, and reporting of diseases. Many
of the countries with the fewest resources
lie in low-latitude regions, areas with the
greatest species diversity. In what is described as the latitudinal species diversity
gradient, species richness, including that
of parasitic and infectious disease species,
decreases with increasing distance from
the equator [2]. The unit of analysis is the
country, and countries vary greatly by size
and diversity of ecology and pathogens.
Knowing whether an infection is present
at the country level may not provide sufficient detail in the assessment of an individual patient who has lived in or visited
only one part of a large country. All data
seem to be given equal weight, regardless
of source. Some other quibbles are that
the disease table of contents mixes names
of organisms, classes of organisms (eg,
fungal infection), clinical findings (eg, intraabdominal abscess), and disease names
in a way that seems idiosyncratic. For
AIDS, in the summary note there is no
mention that infection can be transmitted
by breast-feeding and no note of the importance of heterosexual transmission.
Transplacental transmission is noted for
human immunodeficiency virus but not
for cytomegalovirus or syphilis. For hepatitis B, there is no mention of perinatal mother-to-child transmission. Measles
can be spread by airborne route in addition to droplet spread. For vectorborne infections, it would be helpful to
have information about seasonality of
BOOK REVIEWS • CID 2010:51 (15 November) • 1227
transmission. Another downside for individuals will be the cost, as each country
or disease “e-book” costs $49. This is a
modest price for the richness of the data,
but given the number of countries and
diseases, this means that most individuals
will not be able to afford the entire set.
Because these are electronic books,
some of the specific issues I have mentioned can be easily remedied, and these
e-books can and should improve over
time. Despite some shortcomings in the
current product, Steve Berger and his team
deserve kudos for a remarkable feat in the
face of a daunting challenge.
Mary Elizabeth Wilson
Associate Professor of Global Health
and Population, Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, Massachusetts
References
1. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Infectious disease movement in a borderless world [workshop summary]. Washington,
DC: National Academies Press, 2010. http://
www.nap.edu. Accessed 13 October 2010.
2. Guernier V, Hockberg ME, Guegan JE. Ecology
drives the worldwide distribution of human
diseases. PLoS Biol 2004; 26(6):740–746.
Public Health
and Infectious Diseases
Edited by Jeffrey Griffiths,
James H. Maguire,
Kristian Heggenhougen, Stella R. Quah,
and Davidson H. Hamer
San Diego, CA: Elsevier, 2010.
512 pp, Illustrated. $99.95 (hardcover).
Public Health and Infectious Diseases is a
biomedical textbook that provides a combined clinical and public health perspective on infectious diseases of major public
health importance, with the exception of
human immunodeficiency virus infection
and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
(which the editors surmise is well covered
elsewhere). The book focuses on neglected
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of
the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
and emerging pathogens, with emphasis
on those of public health importance in
low-income countries, which the editors
believe have received less attention from
the biomedical community in recent years.
The book provides concise information on
a spectrum of these infectious diseases,
bridging clinical knowledge, disease epidemiology, and prevention, treatment,
and control measures. The chapters are
written and edited by well-regarded experts in clinical and public health aspects
of infectious diseases who represent a
broad range of developed and developing
regions worldwide. Students in public
health, biomedical professionals, clinicians, public health practitioners, and decision makers all would find in this book
information relevant to the control and
prevention of neglected and emerging
diseases worldwide.
The book is divided into 4 sections:
overview and syndromes, bacteria and
rickettsia, parasites, and viruses. The syndrome chapters are a comprehensive overview of bacterial infections, general childhood infectious diseases, foodborne illnesses, waterborne diseases, viral hepatitis,
and pneumonia. In each of the chapters,
the authors present a top-down perspective of pathogens and syndromes related
to infectious diseases responsible for some
of the highest burden of illness in developing countries. These chapters outline in
broad terms the epidemiology, etiology,
pathophysiology, and treatment and control options for reducing the toll of these
diseases.
The subsequent sections are pathogen
specific, focusing on diseases caused by
bacteria, rickettsia, parasites, and viruses.
These chapters comprehensively present
the clinical and public health spectrum of
diseases related to these pathogens, addressing illnesses common to the developing world. These chapters are well balanced in terms of information necessary
for understanding the taxonomy and the
microbiology as well as the clinical manifestations, diagnostics, and management.
Most important from the public health
1228 • CID 2010:51 (15 November) • BOOK REVIEWS
perspective is that each chapter places substantial emphasis on the epidemiology of
the disease, in terms of transmission and
incidence, and provides an overview of
measures necessary for disease prevention
and control. Each chapter is accompanied
by a relevant and manageable set of key
references.
The book perhaps is a great starting
point not only for those new to the field
or those with interests overlapping this
field (eg, policy makers, nongovernmental
organization workers, or donors) but also
for those specialized in other biomedical
fields who intend to boost or to broaden
their knowledge of infectious diseases and
of the relevance of such diseases to the
developing world. Notably absent is a
chapter on rotavirus, which is the primary
preventable cause of severe childhood diarrhea worldwide, responsible for more
than half a million childhood deaths annually. Future editions should address
this oversight. All things considered, the
book is a welcome addition to the field
of infectious diseases, further bridging
the gap between the clinician and the
epidemiologist.
Manish Patel
Epidemiology Branch, Division of Viral Diseases,
National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory
Diseases, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia