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The New Killer Diseases: How the Alarming Evolution of Germs Threatens Us All

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In their book, THE NEW KILLER DISEASES: Why SARS, West Nile Virus, Ebola, and Mad Cow Disease are only the Beginning, authors, Elinor Levy & Mark Fischetti, Ph.D., tell us how several of the old-time diseases, like tuberculosis and plague, are making a come back; while at the same time newly emerging diseases like West Nile Virus and SARS are becoming more common. We see them on television. We hear about them on the radio. We read about them in the newspapers. Deadly micobes are everywhere. We're told they're undermining our health, sapping our economy, and overtaxing the global healthcare system.

Why is all this happening? The number one reason killer diseases are on the rampage is because they've become resistant to modern-day antibiotics. That's right. The germs have finally gotten smarter than the humans, and the experts tell us that a lot of the blame falls directly onto our doctors. Sorry guys, but it's true. Evidently, you've been prescribing unnecessary antibiotics to your patients for a long time now, and, subsequently, the germs you were trying to kill, have mutated into drug-resistant germs. Bad news! Over the years the pesky little bugs have grown even stronger, so now we're in serious trouble. We get sick - we can't get well. That's not even funny.

So here we are, surrounded by an army of deadly microbes, yet everybody just seems to going about their business as usual. What's up with that? A few days ago I was talking about this very subject with some guy I met in the mall. His feeling was that when your number's up, it's up. Don't worry about it. I was flabberghasted. So why aren't we more concerned? The simplest answer is that Americans are basically a ho-hum society. If the threat isn't immediate - then mañana.

But if you think a drug resistant disease can't happen to you, you're wrong. I have a friend who picked up a serious staphylococcus infection through casual contact at his local gym. He had a small cut on his arm and forgot to place a towel between his bare arm and the gym equipment. Within a few days his entire arm had turned black and blue and swelled to twice its normal size. It looked dead, and would have been if he hadn't of gotten prompt medical treatment. Even then, the first antibiotic didn't do the job. Needless to say, it wasn't a very pleasant experience.

That is not a unique story. Deadly germs are everywhere, and we need to do something proactive to meet this threat---now! The authors suggest the following strategy:

"Tighter surveillance, more research, better tests, expanded public health
programs and greater education."

There's no doubt that such a strategy would be expensive, but the bottom line is that this whole drug resistant disease thing has gotten totally out of control, and if we don't do something about it soon, then our ambivalence will surely deliver us all to the Promised Land.

It's time we became more aware, and this book should absolutely be on your required reading list.

I received the book before the expected time of arrival. The book is in excellent condition, and I am very satisfied with my purchase. In addition, I purchased the book for a good price. I would definitely purchase again from seller when necessary.