Virus X: Tracking the New Killer Plagues
by Frank Ryan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Frank RyanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-09-23
ISBN: 0316763063
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Virus X: Tracking the New Killer Plagues
Book Review: Fascinating
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fascinating book about viruses, mostly the dangerous ones. It is a combination of murder/mystery -- with stories about various viral outbreaks, how they first appeared, and how they were tracked down and in many cases partially contained -- and part scientific primer, delving into how the viruses actually work.
I walkd away amazed by the intricacy of viral operation, and how sophisticated viruses such as AIDS are, as well as engrossed by the human nature of the stories that unfolded.
Along with The Coming Plague, it makes for great, if not disquieting, reading.
Summary of Virus X: Tracking the New Killer Plagues
Who needs Stephen King when there are such real-life horrors as those described in Dr. Frank Ryan's new book, Virus X to keep sleep at bay? Such exotic killers as Ebola and Necrotizing Fasciitis rub elbows with more familiar, if no less potentially lethal, diseases like tuberculosis as Dr. Ryan constructs a well-researched and well-written study that reads more like a thriller than a science book.The heroes are the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines of plague as well as the researchers at laboratories such as the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia; the enemies are the myriad new viruses and virulent new strains of old viruses that are emerging in ever greater numbers as this century wears to a close.Dr. Ryan's answer for why so many plagues are ravaging the world these days is simple but chilling: a huge explosion in population (6 billion people alive today versus 1.5 billion a century ago) and the resulting destruction of habitats has brought human beings into contact with aggressive viruses that once lived beyond our reach; our global transportation systems spread them.Virus X is not the first book to raise these issues, but it's a comprehensive one, making for gripping, frightening reading.Who needs Stephen King when there are such real-life horrors as those described in Dr. Frank Ryan's new book, Virus X to keep sleep at bay? Such exotic killers as Ebola and Necrotizing Fasciitis rub elbows with more familiar, if no less potentially lethal, diseases like tuberculosis as Dr. Ryan constructs a well-researched and well-written study that reads more like a thriller than a science book. The heroes are the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines of plague as well as the researchers at laboratories such as the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia; the enemies are the myriad new viruses and virulent new strains of old viruses that are emerging in ever greater numbers as this century wears to a close.
Dr. Ryan's answer for why so many plagues are ravaging the world these days is simple but chilling: a huge explosion in population (6 billion people alive today versus 1.5 billion a century ago) and the resulting destruction of habitats has brought human beings into contact with aggressive viruses that once lived beyond our reach; our global transportation systems spread them. Virus X is not the first book to raise these issues, but it's a comprehensive one, making for gripping, frightening reading.
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