Viruses vs. Superbugs

Viruses vs. Superbugs

$18.00

SKU: 9780230551930
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Description

A new look at the old drugs that could help with the antibiotic crisis
In the US alone some 90,000 people die from superbugs–bacteria that have grown immune to antibiotics. Officials agree that this problem will only get worse with time and new alternatives must be found. One alternative that is being considered by scientists is a kind of virus called a bacteriophage. “Phages”–viruses that kill bacteria but not humans–were discovered in 1915. Phage therapy was successfully used for twenty years before the invention of penicillin made them obsolete everywhere but Eastern Europe, where they are still in use today. In its first English translation, this book tells the fascinating story behind the history of the phage, its discovery and development, as well as the strides that are being made to bring the therapy back to the West today.

Thomas Häusler is chief science editor of the Swiss news magazine Facts and has won several awards for his journalistic work. He lives in Switzerland.
“An exceptionally thorough book, extraordinarily well written and scientifically authoritative…a book about an explosive subject, that could not have been done better”–Spektrum der Wissenschaften, the German Scientific American
 
“Thomas Häusler tells a forgotten chapter of the history of medicine that ends in the present with a surprising comeback. His book is riveting and written in an exemplary style.”–Schweizerische Ärztezeitung 
“Thomas Häusler traces in his gripping book the story of the rise, the fall and the possible renaissance of bacteriophages as drugs.”–Basler Zeitung
 
“The Swiss science journalist Thomas Häusler has written an extremely compelling popular science book.”–Laborjournal
 
“Häusler’s book tells the gripping tale of the once hyped now forgotten phage therapy.”–Tages-Anzeiger
 
“Thomas Häusler paints a vivid and engaging picture of the larger-than-life characters who committed themselves to the development of phage therapy. The science is there – in easily understandable language – but so are Stalin’s purges and the Second World War. Bacteriophage therapy has not yet taken off – but promise is there. This authoritative book explains why.”–T. Hugh Pennington, president of the British Society for General Microbiology
 
“This book, documented with rare photographs and abundant references, is scientific journalism at its best and a fascinating contribution to the history of medicine.”–Professor Hans-Wolfgang Ackermann, Laval University