Infection Control in the ICU Environment provides the details of the most common infection control problems facing intensive care units. Authors include noted scientists, intensivists and epidemiologists from the United States and Europe as well as infection control experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Acinetobacter, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin resistant enterococci are examined in detail. This volume also includes cutting edge information regarding the potential for prophylactic and pre-emptive therapy of fungal infections in intensive care units. Innovations in vascular catheter care and prevention of bloodstream infections are discussed in this volume as well as the newest information in mathematical modeling to understand the epidemiology and control of infections in intensive care units.

During the past decade, the rapid growth of molecular and cellular knowledge of macrophages, as a specialized host defense and homeostatic system, has begun to offer attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. Macrophages play a central role in a wide range of disease processes, from genetically determined lysosomal storage diseases, to acute sepsis, chronic inflammation and repair, tissue injury and cell death. Under- or overactivity of macrophage clearance, immune effector functions and responses to metabolic abnormalities contribute to common disorders such as autoimmunity, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer s disease and major infections including AIDS and Tuberculosis. Whilst the goals of therapeutic intervention based on improved understanding of macrophage functions and their contribution to pathogenesis may seem self evident, there are considerable difficulties in producing useful new agents.

The present volume covers a range of subjects and provides opportunities for a more focused macrophage-targeted approach. The individual chapters review selected topics briefly, to place cellular processes and molecular targets in perspective. Overall, the volume should provide a broad sample of the state of the art. Useful reviews and references in the literature are cited within individual chapters."

PAS proteins control numerous physiological and developmental events, and span phylogeny from bacteria to man. Bacterial and plant PAS proteins act as sensors of environmental stimuli, including light, oxygen, and energy status. Not surprising, given these roles, there is intense investigation of the roles of bHLH-PAS proteins in issues of human health including: (1) cancer induction, (2) cancer growth and vascularity, (3) birth defects, including Down syndrome, (4) appetite control and obesity, (5) sleep rhythm disorders, and (6) mental health disorders such as social interactions and learning. PAS proteins encompass many fields of biology, and scientists who work in these fields (circadian rhythms, oxygen regulation, toxin metabolism, bacterial sensors, and development) are an audience, particularly those who actively work on PAS proteins and researchers interested in transcriptional control, signal transduction, and evolution.

Corona- and related viruses are important human and animal pathogens that also serve as models for other viral-mediated diseases. Interest in these pathogens has grown tremendously since the First International Symposium was held at the Institute of Virology and Immunobiology of the University of Wiirzburg, Germany. The Sixth International Symposium was held in Quebec City from August 27 to September I, 1994, and provided further understanding of the molecular biology, immunology, and pathogenesis of corona-, toro-, and arterivirus infections. Lectures were given on the molecular biology, pathogenesis, immune responses, and development of vaccines. Studies on the pathogenesis of coronavirus infections have been focused mainly on murine coronavirus, and mouse hepatitis virus. Neurotropic strains ofMHV (e.g., JHM, A59) cause a demyelinating disease that has served as an animal model for human multiple sclerosis. Dr. Samuel Dales, of the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, gave a state-of-the-art lecture on our current under standing of the pathogenesis of JHM-induced disease.

Viruses are studied either because they cause significant human, animal or plant disease or because they are useful materials for probing basic phenomena in biology, chemistry, genetics and/or molecular biology. Arenaviruses are unusually interesting in that they occupy both categories. Arenaviruses cause several human diseases known primarily as the hemorrhagic fevers occurring in South and Latin America (Bolivia: Machupo, Argentine, Junin virus, and Brazil: Sabia virus) and in Africa (Lassa fever virus). Because such viruses produce profound disabilities and often kill the persons they infect, they are a source of health concern and economic hardship in the countries where they are prevalent. Further, they provide new problems for healthcare persons owing to the narrowing of the world as visitors from many countries travel increasingly to and from endemic areas and may incubate the infectious agent taking it from an endemic area into an area where the virus is not expected. Such cases are now being re corded with increasing frequency. In addition to these hemor rhagic fever viruses, the arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) can infect humans worldwide, although the illness is most often less disabling and severe than those elicited by the other arenaviruses. Yet, LCMV is of greater concern to non arenavirologists and experimentalists using tissue culture or ani mals, etc. , because normal-appearing cultured cells or tissues from animals used for research may be persistently infected with LCMV without manifesting clinical disease or cytopathology and may transmit that infection to laboratory workers.

This book resulted from presentations at an international conference on bacterial p1asmids held January 5-9, 1981 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This was the first meeting of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The meeting place was selected for its relaxed and comfortable climate, conducive to interactions among participants. More importantly the locale facilitated the participation of nearby Latin American clinical and research scientists who deal directly with the health manifestations of pathogenic p1asmids. Diseases and socio-economic practices of developing countries exist in the Dominican Republic whose scientific community could directly benefit from having the meeting there. The book includes the talks as well as extended abstracts of poster presentations from the meeting. This combination, which provides readers with reviews as well as recent findings, captures the full scientific exchange which took place during the 5-day meeting. As one indication of pathogenicity related to p1asmids, the conferees were surveyed for gastro-intestina1 problems during and after their stay in the Dominican Republic. The results are summarized at the end of this book.

Christiaan Eijkman received the Nobel prize for Medicine in 1929 for his discovery that beri-beri is a vitamin-deficiency disease. He had conducted his seminal research on the disease in the fonner Dutch East Indies between 1886 and 1898 at the location of. the present Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta. In 1998, the first International Eijkman Symposium was held in The Hague, The Netherlands, to celebrate the fact that exactly 100 years earlier Christiaan Eijkman was inaugurated as full professor in Hygiene and Bacteriology at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. The Eijkman-Winkler Centre for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation is the direct descendant of Eijkman's department in Utrecht. vii Contributing Authors Bacbti Alisjabbana Department of Internal Medicine Padjadjaran University (UNP AD) Dr Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung Indonesia Kevin Baird US Navy Medical Research Unit-2 J1. Percetakan Negara 29 Jakarta 15650 Indonesia Phone: +62-21-421-4457 Fax: +62-214244507 Jan P . B. van den Berg Nederland-Batam Foundation Stationsweg 56 6711 PT Ede The Netherlands Phone: +31-318610368 Fax: +31-318612476 Greet J. Boland Eijkman-Winkler Centre University Medical Centre Utrecht ix x Contributing Authors P. O. Box 85500 3584 CX Utrecht The Netherlands Phone: +31-302506536 Fax: +31-302541770 G J . Boland@azu. n1 Graham V. Brown Department of Medicine University of Melbourne Royal Melbourne Hospital Victoria Australia gvb@unimelb. edu. au Frank E. J. Coenjaerts Eijkman-Winkler Centre University Medical Centre Utrecht P. O. Box 85500 3584 CX Utrecht The Netherlands Phone: +31-302507637 Fax: +31-302541770 . EJ . Coenjaerts@lab. azu.

Hot Topics in Infection and Immunity in Children brings together leading experts in the field to provide a current and authoritative view concerning the hottest topics of concern to clinicians caring for children with infections and research scientists working in the areas of infectious disease, immunology, microbiology and public health. The book is based on a collection of manuscripts from a faculty of authors of international standing who contributed to a course in Paediatric Infection and Immunity in Oxford, UK in June 2003.

Hepatitis viruses research started more than fifty years ago. The names of hepatitis A and hepatitis B were introduced in 1947 when it became clear that there were two types of hepatitis that were transmitted either enterically or parenterally. It became apparent in the 1970's that there were additional hepatitis viruses distinct from hepatitis A and hepatitis B, and thus, the term non-A, non-B hepatitis was introduced. The non-A, non-B hepatitis was further divided into post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis and enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis in the 1980's. By the end of the 1980's, both post-transfusion non-A, non-B virus and enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B virus had been identified and renamed hepatitis C virus and hepatitis E virus, respectively. Hepatitis delta antigen was first recognized as an antigen associated with hepatitis B virus infection in the 1970's. In the early 1980's, a virus was isolated and named hepatitis delta virus. These five different hepatitis viruses have distinct replication pathways and are major health concerns. They have become an important topic for teaching to graduate-level and medical students.Hepatitis Viruses provides a comprehensive, up-to-date review of these viruses to readers. Each chapter is written by one of the top researchers in the field, and topics include: * the epidemiology and the natural history of infection of these viruses, * the molecular biology and the replication cycle of individual hepatitis viruses, * host-virus interactions and the pathogenesis of hepatitis viruses, * the immunology of hepatitis viruses, * the relationship between hepatitis viruses and hepatocellular carcinoma, * the viral vaccines and antiviral drugs. This book can serve as a supplemental reading material to graduate students and medical students, and to any researcher who would like to learn more about hepatitis viruses.

Over the generations the skin has been the site for immunization against smallpox. This method of immunization was described in a letter written by Lady Mary Montagu on April 1, 1717 in Adrianopole, Turkey: "The small-pox, so fatal, and so general amongst us, is here entirely harmless by the invention of ingrafting, which is the term they give it. . . The old woman comes with a nut-shell full of the matter of the best sort of small-pox . . . She immediately rips open (the skin) with a large needle . . . and puts into the vein as much venom as can lie upon the head of her needle, and after binds up the wound. There is no example of anyone that died of it; and you may believe that I am satisfied of the safety of this experiment since I intend to try it on my dear little son" (Letters from the right Honourable Lady Mary Montagu 1709-1762. Published by J. M. Dent and Co. London, 2nd edition, September, 1906, p. 124. ) The "variolation" method was, 80 years later, markedly improved by the use of cowpox virus, as reported by Edward Jenner in 1796. The successful method of intradermal immunization against smallpox and later against other virus diseases is in fact based on the presence of anitigen-presenting dendritic cells in the skin.

There are only very few chemical classes of antibiotics in medical use, and these have originated over a span of more than 60 years of research. Almost half a century ago, the first member of the macrolides, erythromycin, was introduced as a treatment option for bacterial infections. Erythromycin is a very complex fermentation product obtained from the soil bacterium Saccharopolyspora ery thraea (originally named Streptomyces erythreus). The success of erythromycin, based on its efficacy and tolerability, stimulated researchers throughout the world to undertake intense efforts to understand the biology and chemistry of macrolides and to use this experience to improve the properties of this compound class. The second generation of macrolides, based on chemical modifications of erythromy cin, is currently being in broad use, especially for treatment of respiratory tract infections. We presently foresee the introduction of a new generation of macro lides, i. e. the ketolides, which have the potential to overcome rising resistance problems. This monograph is intended to give the interested reader an overview on "macrolide experience," covering important areas from basic research to clinical use. Starting from a historic overview, the essential basic parameters - efficacy, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacology - are highlighted in order to introduce the reader to the rationale for clinical use of macrolides. The following group of chapters cover the complex chemistry of the macro lactone structures, giving historic background, basic structure-activity relation ships of various derivatization strategies, and perspectives for future discovery of new semisynthetic macrolide antibiotics."

This volume represents a series of papers presented at the Second International Workshop on HPV Immunology held at the University of Cambridge July 5-7 1993. This Workshop and its predecessor held in Amsterdam in May 1992 were two of the major activities of the European Concerted Action "Immunology of Human Papillomavirus and Vaccine Development." The Concerted Action (CA) was supported by grants from the Commission of the European Communities (EC), the French Association for Cancer Research (ARC) and the European Association for Medical Research (EAMR). Twenty two laboratories throughout Europe and Scandinavia were members of the CA, the objectives of which were to develop collaborations, implement scientific exchanges and co-operate in a collective effort to develop vaccination strategies for HPV. HPV's are ubiquitous pathogens and evidence which has been accumulated over the past decade leaves little doubt that infection with certain HPV types (the so called "oncogenic HPV's" 16, 18 and their relatives) is the major risk factor in the development of cancer of the uterine cervix in women. Since an infectious agent, a virus, is implicated as the main aetiologic factor in this disease, the possibility is raised that if one could prevent HPV infection or treat established infections this would be an effective anti-cancer strategy against what is the commonest cancer in women worldwide."

This book, Mechanisms in the Pathogenesis of Enteric Diseases 2, is an out come of the Second International Rushmore Conference on Mechanisms in the Pathogenesis of Enteric Diseases, held September 3D-October 3, 1998 in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. Its chapters represent many of the reviews and papers presented at the conference. The meeting was organized by members of the North-Central Regional Research Committee "NC-62", a consortium of researchers of bovine and swine enteric diseases from land-grant institutions supported by the United States Department of Agriculture. The Rushmore Conferences were conceived as a forum for an interdiscipli nary discussion of mechanisms of infectious enteric diseases. It was intended that such a discussion would stimulate cross-pollination of ideas, and nurture synergistic collabora tions among scientists who might otherwise not interact. Enteric diseases are caused by widely divergent pathogens and parasites in broadly different settings, and affect multi ple organ systems. Some enteric diseases affect a single species, while others may affect multiple species, perhaps including human beings. Some enteric diseases were present in antiquity, while others have recently emerged. Knowledge regarding a particular disease or pathogen has frequently proven useful in understanding another disease or pathogen, because common themes in pathogenesis exist. As this knowledge base grows,strategies in the prevention and control of various enteric diseases often converge. Cross-discipli nary discussions and collaborations facilitate growth of this knowledge base, as well as development of tools for disease interdiction.

Scientists and clinicians attending the last "New Directions in Antiviral Therapy" conference in late 1994 could hardly have predicted the revolution in the management of patients with HIV infection that has occurred since. Two new classes of antiretrovirals have been licensed, the second-site RT inhibitors and the protease inhibitors; the long in cubation period of active HIV infection, when the infection is clinically latent, is now un derstood to be a period of intense viral replication and turnover of CD4 lymphocytes; measurements of HI V RNA concentration in plasma have been shown to be essential tools for monitoring the course of HIV infection, deciding when to treat, and assessing the re sults of treatment; and finally, combinations of antiretrovirals, particularly combinations including protease inhibitors, have been shown to have dramatically beneficial effects on patients with HIV infection. These advances, coupled with new drugs for the management of herpesvirus infections, have made dramatic differences in the quality and length of life of HIV-infected patients. Additional advances have been made since 1994 in the prevention or management of influenza virus (zanamavir), respiratory syncytial virus (palvizumab), hepatitis B virus (lamivudine and famciclovir), and enterovirus infections (pleconaril). It is difficult to re member that only slightly more than a decade ago there were only a handful of antiviral agents available (none of which were antiretrovirals), and a number of those were either highly toxic, of dubious efficacy, or both."

For the eighth time the yersiniologists all over the world gathered together when the International Symposium on Yersinia was organized by University of Turku and Turku Microbiology Society in Turku, Finland. Over 250 delegates from 28 countries attended the Symposium. The Symposium logo (Picture 4, next page) presents a bacteriophage attached to the surface of the bacterium. One can easily imagine that most of the aspects covered in this Symposium are included in the logo: the bacteriophage genome encodes for structural proteins, adhesins and effector proteins that interact with the host cell in most intricate ways to carry out their mission. Life of the bacteriophage depends on the tightly regulated interplay between the phage and the host proteins. This all is also true between Yersinia and the different hosts and environments it encounters during its life cycle. This Symposium Proceedings volume is based on the oral and poster presentations given during the Symposium. The volume has been divided into six parts covering topics such as genomics, surface structures, bacteriophages, molecular and cellular pathogenesis, molecular epidemiology and diagnostics, gene regulation, clinical aspects and vaccines. These topics reflect righteously the present trends in the bacteriology research.

Peste de Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild small ruminants that can significantly affect economies. The authors are experts in the field and provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review covering all aspects of the disease. The book is divided into seven chapters highlighting genome organization, virus replication and the determinants of virulence, pathophysiology and clinical disease, immunology and immunopathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostic assays and vaccines, and the challenges concerning global eradication. It is an invaluable reference work, presenting the latest information for virologists, microbiologists, immunologists, veterinarians, and scientists working in PPR research.

There has been a great upsurge in interest in light microscopy in recent years due to the advent of a number of significant advances in microscopy, one of the most important of which is confocal microscopy. Confocal microscopy has now become an important research tool, with a large number of new fluorescent dyes becoming available in the past few years, for probing your pet structure or molecule within fixed or living cell or tissue sampies. Many of the people interested in using confocal microscopy to further their research do not have a background in microscopy or even cell biology and so not only do they find considerable difficulty in obtaining satisfactory results with a confocal microscope, but they may be mislead by how data is being presented. This book is intended to teach you the basic concepts ofmicroscopy, fluorescence, digital imaging and the principles of confocal microscopy so that you may take full advantage ofthe excellent confocal microscopes now available. This book is also an excellent reference source for information related to confocal microscopy for both beginners and the more advanced users. For example, do you need to know the optimal pinhole size for a 63x 1. 4 NA lens? Do you need to know the fluorescence emission spectrum of Alexa 568? Access to the wealth of practical information in this book is made easier by using both the detailed index and the extensive glossary.

It has become commonplace to say that the decline of rheu matic fever in Europe and North America has little, if any thing, to do with medicine; but to conclude that efforts to control the disease are futile would be an error leading to what could be termed public health malpractice. The need for adequate treatment of patients suffering from acute rheu matic fever or chronic rheumatic valvular heart disease is obvious; but control also means prevention, and here, too, the need is obvious, if only to lighten the burden on health care, due especially to the treatment of patients with advanced forms of the disease. The feasibility of and justification for rheumatic fever control programmes in developing countries has been often questioned. A co-operative study co-ordinated by the World Health Organization has now demonstrated that systematic prevention of rheumatic fever recurrences not only benefits the patients concerned but also has economic advantages. Primary prevention by systematic penicillin treatment of all streptococcal throat infections is at present beyond the reach of many health care systems, and anti-streptococcal vac cination is still in the research phase. The mainstay of the combat against rheumatic heart disease thus remains 7 RHEUMATIC FEVER secondary prevention - the long-term monthly administ ration of penicillin injections to identified patients. This requires, among other things, that penicillin be available."

This book provides a detailed account of the physico-chemical properties and biological functions of the outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) of different pathogenic and non-pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria. It also includes an authentic record of the first systematic study that discovered the mechanism of OMV formation by a pathogen, "Vibrio cholerae," and proposed that the process represented a novel secretory activity of bacteria. Furthermore, the authors present clinical and laboratory data on the use of OMVs as immunogens, as effective and licensed vaccines against "Neisseria meningitidis" serogroup B infections and on the development of more effective vaccines against other human and animal pathogens including "Vibrio cholerae. "This volume thus bears witness to the emerging revolution in the field of vaccines against pathogens and closes with a discussion of open questions and future research on OMVs.

Japanese encephalitis and West Nile viruses are members of the Japanese encephalitis serological group of the genus Flavivirus and therefore closely related genetically and antigenically. They share a number of properties, including the use of birds as their major wildlife maintenance host and Culicine mosquitoes for transmission, and they are both associated with severe human disease, as well as fatal infections in horses.
The emergence of these two viruses, and their well-established propensity to colonise new areas, make it timely to re-examine their ecology, biology, molecular structure, replication and epidemiology, and these therefore provide the focus of this volume.

The pregnant host is at risk for any of the viral diseases her nonpregnant counterpart acquires. Additionally, pregnancy heightens our concerns regarding specific viral diseases be cause of their potential for enhanced adverse effects on both maternal and fetal well-being. All too often the obstetrician relinquishes responsibility for the management of the gravida infected by a viral pathogen, and those expert in infectious diseases are confounded by the influence of pregnancy on these conditions. A major goal of this textbook is to narrow the gap between the two aforementioned management dichotomies in the virally infected pregnant woman. Weare at the infancy of our understanding of viral infections in pregnancy. The current and anticipated advancements are due in large part to a burgeoning oftechnological achievements in the areas of immunodiagnostics, molecular biology, and pharmacotherapeutics. Our in utero diagnostic capabilities, both invasive and noninvasive, have also allowed us new opportunities to study the effects of various maternal infectious disease processes on the developing fetus. New insights have been recognized pertaining to the maternal-fetal interface, the placenta, in that this structure is now acknowledged to function as both a mechanical and an immunological barrier to vertical transmission of infection. These observations suggest that there will be an outpouring of new data in the next several years that clinicians will need to master to maintain an appropriate level of expertise in the care of their patients.

The discovery of adenoviruses naturally induced a new interest in viruses of the human upper respiratory tract since previously unknown viruses infecting this portion of the human body had not been identified in 20 years, and their unique characteristics stimulated investigations into the biochemical events essential for replication of animal viruses. Indeed, the field of molecular virology has evolved during the period since their dis covery, and adenoviruses have played a major role in this development. The exciting discoveries made with adenoviruses have had such a pro found effect on knowledge in basic virology, molecular biology, viral ge netics, human and animal infections, and cell transformation that this seemed a propitious time to have some of the major contributors review this field. This volume pays tribute to the late Wallace Rowe, Robert Huebner, and Maurice Hilleman whose initial discoveries of adenoviruses have tremendously enriched virology. Harold S. Ginsberg vii Contents Chapter 1 An Overview 1 Harold S. Ginsberg Chapter 2 The Architecture of Adenoviruses M. V. Nermut I. Introduction ................................... . 5 II. Chemical and Physical Properties ................... . 6 III. Virus Capsid: Composition and Organization .......... . 7 A. Hexon ..................................... . 10 B. Penton .................................... . 12 C. Other Virus Polypeptides Associated with the Capsid 13 D. Organization of the Capsid ..................... . 14 IV. Virus Core .................................... . 15 A. Evidence for the Core Shell ..................... . 17 B. Organization of the DNA-Protein Complex (Nucleoc- sid) ....................................... . 18 C. Tentative Model of the Adenovirus Nucleocapsid ... . 22 V. Model of the Adenovirion ......................... . 29 32 References .......................................... ."

Endotoxins are potentially toxic compounds produced by Gram-negative bacteria including some pathogens. Unlike exotoxins, which are secreted in soluble form by live bacteria, endotoxins are comprised of structural components of bacteria. Endotoxins can cause a whole-body inflammatory state, sepsis, leading to low blood pressure, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and death. This book brings together contributions from researchers in the forefront of these subjects. It is divided into two sections. The first deals with how endotoxins are synthesized and end up on the bacterial surface. The second discussed how endotoxins activate TLR4 and, in turn, how TLR4 generates the molecular signals leading to infectious and inflammatory diseases. The way endotoxins interact with the host cells is fundamental to understanding the mechanism of sepsis, and recent research on these aspects of endotoxins has served to illuminate previously undescribed functions of the innate immune system. This volume presents a description of endotoxins according to their genetic constitution, structure, function and mode of interaction with host cells.

Infection of the lower respiratory tract is a major determinant of the course of cystic fibrosis. Although numerous efforts have been made to elucidate the specific mechanisms predisposing the respiratory mucosa of cystic fibrosis patients to infection, so far no clinically relevant procedures for completely effective prevention or control of infection have resulted. Hence, in dealing with infections in cystic fibrosis, we continue to rely mainly on antimicrobials. Antiinfective measures are inseparably correlated with microbiology, and the quality of antiinfec tive therapy directly reflects the quality of microbial monitoring. Vali dated guidelines for microbiologic testing and antiinfective use need to be developed and made available to all health providers and their cystic fibrosis patients. Several years ago, the editors cochaired a symposium at the Interna tional Congress of Chemotherapy on the Global Perspectives of Micro biological and Clinical Infectious Diseases in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis. During this half-day symposium, the editors heard reports from several countries around the world with an alarming range of survival for patients with cystic fibrosis. This sent a dramatic message to us that the understanding of this disease, its diagnosis, management and prevention was different in various countries and that patients may be inconsistently served. That is how our journey began."

The time seems ripe for a critical compendium of that segment of the biological universe we call viruses. Virology, as a science, having only recently passed through its descriptive phase of naming and num bering, has probably reached that stage at which relatively few new truly new-viruses will be discovered. Triggered by the intellectual probes and techniq ues of molecular biology, genetics, biochemical cytology, and high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy, the field has experienced a genuine information explosion. Few serious attempts have so far been made to chronicle these events. This comprehensive series, which will comprise some 6000 pages in a total of about 22 volumes, represents a commitment by a large group of active investigators to analyze, digest, and expostulate on the great mass of data relating to viruses, much of which is now amorphous and disjointed and scattered throughout a wide literature. I n this way, we hope to place the entire field in perspective as well as to develop an invaluable reference and sourcebook for researchers and students at all levels. This series is designed as a continuum that can be entered anywhere but which also provides a logical progression of developing facts and integrated concepts."