edited by W. Michael Scheld, MD, Richard J. Whitley, MD, and Christina M. Marra, MD, 928 pp, with illus, $239, ISBN 0-78-174327-3, Philadelphia, Pa, Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins, 2004.
This is the third edition of a text which first appeared in 1991. It consists of 50 chapters written by a total of 78 authors. The authors come from various countries and the content and discussions are derived from an international basis. The first 3 chapters are devoted to the workup of a patient with a central nervous system (CNS) infection. Chapters 4 through 21 are devoted to viral or presumed viral infections of the CNS. Chapters 22 through 46 cover bacterial, fungal, and parasitic CNS infections, while chapters 47 through 50 deal with the management and prevention of CNS infections. Individual chapters are organized to cover the history, etiologic organism, pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, prognosis, management, and prevention of the disease.