The Immunoassay Kit Directory, Series B: Infectious Diseases deals with commercially available immunoassay kits for the diagnosis of clinically important infectious diseases. Detailed information about each kit is provided; over 19 different major parameters are listed in a consistent manner to allow for easy comparison. Each organism is introduced by a short article and there are also review articles of relevance to the current issue. Comprehensive indexes are provided. This part of the Directory covers kits for the diagnosis of genitourinary infections such as chlamydia, hepatitis A, B, C and D, herpes simplex, HIV, HTLV, neisseria, streptococcus and treponema. In total almost 600 kits are described in detail. Further parts of the Directory deal with respiratory infections (Part 2) and enteric and other infections (Part 3).

Explains the new methodologies by which viral diseases can be definitively diagnosed in a few hours, especially molecular methods. The many new methods now being developed are based largely on the application of the polymerase chain reaction to the detection of viral genomic material. Accessible to

Chronic viral hepatitis remains one of the major medical problems worldwide. Neither a cure nor eradication of this disease is in sight. The chronic disease caused by hepatitis viruses type B, C and D is a much greater problem than the acute disease caused by the same viruses or by hepatitis viruses type A and E. Chronic viral hepatitis often remains unrecognized until the patient develops decompensated liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Furthermore, unrecognized chronic virus carriers are a persistent source of infection by sexual and other close contacts as well as during many medical procedures. The viruses of chronic hepatitis are very different from each other from a taxonomical point of view, but they share many common pathogenic properties and they often coinfect individuals. Six years ago Carlo De Bac, Gloria Taliani (Rome) and I undertook an effort to bring together, under the auspices of the European Society against Virus Diseases, clinicians, laboratory physicians, epidemiologists, pathologists and molecular biologists whose primary research interest is chronic viral hepatitis. The contributions from these quite divergent participants to a meeting devoted solely to chronic viral hepatitis were most stimulating and valuable. As a result of the success of the first meeting in Fiuggi (Italy), a second followed in Siena (Italy) 1990 and the recent third meeting was held in Pisa (Italy). Most of the speakers expressed interest in publishing their contributions in the form of a proceedings volume, as was done in the case of the Siena meeting.

Among unconventional agents and unclassified viruses the contributions to this volume focused on prion-related diseases, with special emphasis on bovine spongiform encephalopathy and human spongiform encephalopathies, and Borna disease virus, an agent known since long time to be pathogenic for horses and sheep, which is now discussed as a potential pathogen for humans. Additionally, the volume contains articles about newly discovered viruses like porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus and viruses that are classified only provisionally like African swine fever virus, hepatitis C and E viruses, or the arteriviruses.

Regina Woods, just weeks before her fourteenth birthday, contracted polio. Within a few days, she was paralyzed from the neck down, unable even to breathe by herself. What is most profound about this book is that-while it is an account of catastrophic loss-there is so much triumph in it.

The books in this acclaimed series are the most detailed, up-to-date accounts of the field available. Volume 3 explores the oncogenic potential shared by retroviruses of different species, the widespread presence of retrovirues in nature, and the role of retroviruses in normal development and pathogenesis.

Elimination of measles and poliomyelitis diseases from the globe is a priority goal of the World Health Organization. For the first time, in a single volume comprising thirty-one well-documented chapters, internationally recognized experts provide a state-of-the-art treatment of these two important viral diseases. The book offers a wide range of new findings and references on the latest advances regarding the measles and poliomyelitis: * global and molecular genetic epidemiology, characteristics and diseases surveillance * all available vaccines and research to produce more safe and more potent-biotechnology vaccines * immunization programmes, considering the available vaccines and possibility of vaccinal associations in strategy to eliminate/eradicate these diseases * immunity to infections and immunogenicity of vaccines * virus genomes organization and antigenic structures related to vaccine characteristics, stressing their role in immunization strategies * needs of global cooperation, using all available resources, vaccines and strategies to achieve the global control of the diseases. It is addressed to all public health professionals concerned with measles and poliomyelitis control, especially in hospitals, clinics, governmental health services, international health services, centers of infectious diseases, research institutes, medical schools, vaccine producers and experts in immunization strategies and programmes.

Scrapie, a naturally occurring neurodegenerative disease of sheep and sometimes goats, is a prototypic disease for the whole group of the subacute spongiform virus encephalopathies. Kuru was the first human disease of this type to be discovered in 1957 by Gajdusek and Zigas, and its discovery opened the whole field in the human biomedical sciences by the very realization of the fact that viruses may induce disease months or even decades after infections, and that these slow virus diseases are more compatible with classical degenerations of the nervous system than with inflammatory disorders of the brain. More than a quarter of a century since discovery of Kuru, and more than half a century following the first transmission of scrapie, the very nature of the infectious virus remains unknown. This comprehensive review covers all aspects of slow unconventional virus infections known today. It includes numerous historical data, biochemistry and molecular biology of the prion protein and its gene, the role of genetics and mutations within PrP gene, spreading and targeting of the virus, biochemistry and neurochemistry of the alterations of different neurotransmitter system and neuropathology. More than 1000 references are listed and critically analyzed; the reader can find references to all experiments and laboratory findings which has ever been done in this field. Furthermore, the book offers different view on the basic problems as for example, the nature of the scrapie agent.

Concerted efforts to study starvation and survival of nondifferentiating vegeta tive heterotrophic bacteria have been made with various degrees of intensity, in different bacteria and contexts, over more than the last 30 years. As with bacterial growth in natural ecosystem conditions, these research efforts have been intermittent, with rather long periods of limited or no production in between. While several important and well-received reviews and proceedings on the topic of this monograph have been published during the last three to four decades, the last few years have seen a marked increase in reviews on starvation survival in non-spore-forming bacteria. This increase reflects a realization that the biology of bacteria in natural conditions is generally not that of logarithmic growth and that we have very limited information on the physiology of the energy-and nutrient-limited phases of the life cyde of the bacterial cello The growing interest in nongrowing bacteria also sterns from the more recent advances on the molecular basis of the starvation-induced nongrowing bacterial cello The identification of starvation-specific gene and protein re sponders in Escherichia coli as weIl as other bacterial species has provided molecular handles for our attempts to decipher the "differentiation-like" responses and programs that nondifferentiating bacteria exhibit on nutrient limited growth arrest. Severallaboratories have contributed greatly to the progress made in life after-log research."

This monograph gives an excellent review of the issue of antimicrobial prophylaxis in urol ogy and the use of the new fluoroquinolones in urology. The development of the fluoro quinolones has had a profound effect in urology, specifically because of the unique phar macokinetics of the fluoroquinolones with their two or more pK values, making concen tration of these compounds possible in the prostate. Their wide spectra against infecting organisms causing infections in the urinary tract have also made them popular and almost ideal in the treatment of urinary tract infections. This thesis summarizes in an concise way and brings up to date practically all our know ledge concerning the use of fluoroquinolones in urology. The chapter on antimicrobial prophylaxis covers our present knowledge completely, especially concerning the use of these drugs in antimicrobial prophylaxis in transurethral surgery. September 1992 PaulO. Madsen Madison, Wisconsin, USA v Contents Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 1. Author's Publications Referred to in Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 2. Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 3. Problems of Antimicrobial Prophylaxis in Urology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 D. General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. 1. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. 1. 1. Bacteriuria and urinary tract infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. 1. 2. Bacteremia and septicemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. 1. 3. Nosocomial infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. 1. 4. Wound infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. 2. Pathophysiology of Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. 3. Specifics of Antimicrobial Agents to be Used in Prophylaxis . . . . . . . . . . 6 2. 4. Role of Quinolones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2. 4. 1. Antimicrobial activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2. 4. 2. Pharmacokinetic properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."

In this second volume in the series The Retroviridae, the readers are treated to up-to-date reviews on these viruses, which are found in a variety of animal species. The volume begins with important observations on the general fea tures of retrovirus entry into cells as determined by the viral envelope glyco proteins and the cell surface receptors (Chapter 1). Aspects of this virus-cell interaction form the basis for the variety of biologic effects associated with this virus family. A timely review of the oncogenic feline viruses is included next (Chapter 2). These viruses, along with the avian and murine retroviruses (Volume 1, Chapters 6 and 7), have provided valuable insight into cancer induction in other animal species, including humans. Two other major groups of retroviruses, the lentiviruses and the spuma viruses, are introduced in the present volume. Initially these groups, along with oncoviruses, were the three subfamilies in the Retroviridae. This com plex virus family has now been reclassified into seven separate genera (Vol ume 1, Chapter 2). Equine infectious anemia virus is the prototype for a lentivirus (Chapter 5). One of the first viruses discovered in nature (1904), it was only relatively recently recognized as a retrovirus. Lentiviruses are asso ciated primarily with immunologic disorders such as autoimmunity and AIDS (Chapters 3-5), but their association with neurologic disease is also well established (Chapters 4 and 5, and future volumes)."

Chronic viral hepatitis is discussed here in a multidisciplinary approach. The editors' goal was to assemble contributions from clinicians, laboratory physicians, epidemiologists, pathologists, and molecular biologists to provide a synopsis of all the important aspects of this disease. A key element in the chronic evolution of viral hepatitis is the persistent coexistence of a cytotoxic immune response and viral gene expression which is discussed in eleven articles on immune pathogenesis. The oncogenicity of hepatitis B virus at the molecular level and of hepatitis C virus at the epidemiological level is discussed in two chapters. The application of PCR for the detection of hepatitis viruses and their variants is a major topic of both practical and theoretical interest. The clinical significance of newly developed serological assays for diagnosis and prevention is discussed in depth by specialists from clinics, transfusion centers and virological laboratories. The therapy of chronic viral hepatitis is still unsatisfactory, but some slow progress is described in several articles. Furthermore, the volume has a special chapter on the often neglected topic of chronic hepatitis in childhood.

Introducing a book on global infectious diseases is a daunting challenge. Modern developments in molecular research, newly available opportuni ties for earth-orbiting, satellite-based surveillance as a means of predicting certain regional epidemics, and the introduction of remarkable new anti biotics which can cure some awesome problems such as river-blindness would each have astonished even the most jaded reader only a few decades ago. Just the same, even with these laudable advances, malaria is still with us and both poliomyelitis and tuberculosis are growing worldwide problems. As a holdover from my own medical school days, I must confess to an affection for the older term of "tropical medicine" and its historic context, in preference to the more popular present name which is the title of this book. A century or two ago the motives to study tropical medicine were obvious: nations having enormous amounts of maritime trade with distant lands established colonial empires where health in the colonies was a con cern for both the natives and the colonists. It is unsurprising that the great institutes for such studies sprang up in London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, New York and New Orleans, but few of these centers and other similar ones have continued to flourish or even to survive, perhaps because the days of empires have gone."

Internationally well-known microbiologists and pharmacologists examine the therapeutic application of Quinolones in travel medicine, particularly in the case of traveller's diarrhea.

Biologically active compounds isolated from microorganisms continue to be vital to the development of new drugs and agricultural chemicals. This book was prepared by current and past members of the laboratory of Dr. Satoshi Omura of the Kitasato Institute in Japan. Dr. Omura and his colleagues have discovered and studied a number of important antibiotics, and in their work they have pioneered new methods for screening microbes for interesting and important compounds. This book presents strategies and methods for identifying novel molecules with several types of biological activity. In addition, the book discusses the identification of microbial compounds of agrochemical importance, presents information on chemical screening methods, and concludes with chapters on microbial strain selection, fermentation technology, and genetic engineering of antibiotic-producing microorganisms. This book will be of great interest to scientists working in the very active and competitive fields of antibiotic and agrochemical discovery.

AIDS and drug addiction is a topic of great and growing concern. AIDS first appeared among intravenous drug users in Europe in 1984, three years after the first cases were seen among homosexuals. This epidemic has spread more rapidly among intravenous drug users than in any other risk group. The high rates of HIV-1 seroprevalence among drug users in France, Italy, and Spain account for 85% of the total number of AIDS in intravenous drug users in Europe. It is anticipated that HIV-infected drug users will soon place a heavy burden on both drug treatment facilities and specialized health care units. The HIV-1 epidemic will also cross the former iron curtain. This contribution covers the wide and complex scene of drug problems and addiction as a whole. It gives researchers an opportunity to obtain background information on the spread of HIV and AIDS among intravenous drug users as well as on the clinical and psychological effects of HIV-1 infection and AIDS in Europe. The topics reviewed include surveys of intravenous drug use, HIV prevalence, detoxification, risk reduction, changing health behaviors, evaluating AIDS interventions and the impact of methadone maintenance treatment. This monograph will be of value to all clinicians, researchers, and policy makers who are concerned with the connection between intravenous drug use and AIDS.

Die j{hrlichen H{mophilie-Symposien befassen sich mit neuen Erkenntnissen aus der Grundlagenforschung und Klinik der H{- mophilie, verwandter angeborener und erworbener Blutungs- krankheiten und thrombophiler Diathesen. Diese Veranstaltun- gen verfolgen das Ziel, unter Mitwirkung kompetenter Modera- toren und Referenten aller involvierten Fachdisziplinen, [rzten und Wissenschaftler aus dem zentraleurop{ischen Raum aktuelle Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen zu vermitteln und eine stetige Verbesserung der Krankenversorgung zu bewirken. Die Hauptthemen des vorliegenden Bandes sind auf therapiebe- dingte Gef{hrdungendurch Virusinfektionen und nicht-infek- ti|se Nebenwirkungen gerinnungsaktiver Plasmapr{parate ge- richtet. Im Vordergrund stehen dabei H{ufigkeit, Verlauf, Verh}tung und Therapie der HIV-Infektion, H{ufigkeit und Verh}tung der Hepatitis B- und C-Infektion sowie Behand- lungswege der Hemmk|rperh{mophilie. In weiteren Hauptthemen werden angeborene bzw. heredit{re thrombophile Diathesen, insbesondere Protein C- und Antithrombin III-Mangelzust{nde sowie neue, vor allem molekularbiologische Fortschritte in der h{mostaseologischen Diagnostik verhandelt. Den Abschlu~ bildet eine Serie freier Vortr{ge }ber spezielle klinische Probleme bei angeborenenund erworbenen H{mostasest|rungen.

The Fifth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), summarizes the proceedings and decisions reached by the ICTV at its meetings held at the International Congresses of Virology in Sendai (1984), Edmonton (1987) and Berlin (1990). This report has been organized in the same way as the previous ones (Wildy, 1971; Fenner, 1976; Matthews, 1979; 1982), yet it encompasses many more families and groups of viruses than previous reports, and it includes new tables, diagrams and keys. The officers and members of the ICTV study groups from 1984 to 1990 are listed, as the current ICTV statutes and rules of nomenclature. Information on the format for submission of new taxonomic proposals to the ICTV is also provided. Since the Fourth Report of the ICTV (1982), 19 new virus families and groups have been described. This report includes 2,430 viruses belonging to 73 families or groups, as well as virus satellites and viroids descriptions, but it does not include descriptions not approved by the ICTV. It now will be possible to publish such preliminary, and in some cases controversial, descriptions in the Virology Division pages of the Archives of Virology --this will allow virologists to carry on the kind of interim dialogue that is necessary for arriving at broad agreement on taxonomic matters.

The Wiggers Bernard Conferences, named after two great physiologists of the past, are an nual gatherings of the leaders in the field of shock. The meetings focus on specific areas of which appears to be showing the most advancement during the previous year. There are se veral types of sessions; informal presentations during which the seminarian can be intenup ted in order to clarify a particular point; formal discussions follow each presentation; these are followed by informal gatherings in which these discussions continue during meals and libation in a very relaxed environment. The 1990 meeting took place in Durnstein, Austria. A small hamlet in the wine growing area of the Wachau valley, on the Danube above Vien na. This was the site of a former citadel where the English King Richard the Lion-Heart (Coeur de Uon) was held for ransom during the middle ages. The frank beauty and hospi tality of this area in addition to the ancient Roman adage "in vino veritas" acted as a catalyst to crystalize the thoughts of this interdisciplinary group of scientists as they discussed the following areas: 1. Gut as a Source of Organ Failure 2. Metabolic Aspects of the Liver in Sepsis 3. Endothelium as a Target'in Sepsis We would like to thank the participants of the conference for taking time away from their very productive and busy schedules to participate in the conference and for the prompt pre sentation of their manuscripts and editions of their discussions.

PCR, developed at Cetus Corporation/USA by Henry A. Erlich, Kary Mullis and Randall K. Saiki, is a very simple method for amplifying nucleic acids in vitro. The realization of this idea bases on the repetition of a set of three different temperatures and yields an increase of the target structure up to a factor of 106 to 1012. Therefore, this technique is predisposed for safe analysis and characterization of DNA and RNA sequences of interest, even where the starting amount of material is enormously small. Because of its sensitivity, speed and versatility this method is particularly suitable for investigations of oncogenes, tumor associated translocations, retroviral sequences, lymphokines and mainly the broad field of degenerative and inflammatory diseases of nervous system. PCR seems to be the technique which could overcome the two most important problems in that field: very small amount of material combined with the necessity of rapid diagnostic procedures in inflammatory infections. "PCR topics" will give an actual overview of basic and applied research fields on usage of polymerase chain reaction. All contributions to this book have been presented at an international congress on "Usage of Polymerase chain reaction in genetic and infectious diseases" which took place in june 1990 in Berlin. The editors wish to thank all participants for their contributions. We offer our thanks and gratitude to our coworkers and especially to our technical assistents Barbara Trampenau, Mirjana Wiirdemann and Hannelore Leonhard.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), isolated in 1966, continues to draw worldwide attention as an important human pathogen. Its impor tance is largely related to the continuing accumulation of evidence that implicates EBV as an etiological factor for certain types of human cancer. More recent investigations on this virus have focused on the identity of the viral genes responsible for the different disease mani festations observed following viral infection. It is hoped that by thorough investigation of this virus, clues to how cancer develops from a normal cell will surface. In addition, many of the gene products are now being exploited for the development of new and more sensitive tests for the diagnosis and clinical management of individu als with EBV -associated diseases. Thus, studies on this virus continue to provide new information of importance to our understanding of the malignant process. In an effort to attract both basic and clinical scientists to the same meeting for purposes of scientific exchange and fostering a closer interaction between these individuals, a series of international symposia was initiated in 1984. The first meeting was held in Loutraki, Greece, and was attended by approximately 100 participants. The second international symposium was held in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1986, and was attended by approximately twice as many partici pants as attended the Loutraki meeting."

The application of enzymes or whole cells (fermentatively active or resting; microbial, plant, or animal) to carry out selective transformations of commercial importance is the central theme of industrial biocatalysis. Traditionally, biocatalysis has been in the domain of the life scientist or biochemical engineer. However, recent advances in this field have enabled biocatalytic processes to compete head on with, and in some cases out perform, conventional chemical processing. Chemo-biocatalytic systems are being developed thereby combining the most attractive features of bio catalysts, namely high specificity, with those of chemical catalysts, such as high reactivities and wide substrate specificities. Hence, synthetic chemists and chemical engineers are now beginning to use biocatalysts as highly selective reagents in chemical synthesis and processing. This book is about biocatalysts and their past, present, and potential applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. The con cept of the book did not emanate from a meeting. Rather, it is a compila tion of selected examples where biocatalysis either has already made a significant impact in the aforementioned industries, or has the potential to make a substantial contribution. I have been fortunate to have assembled contributions from world-class researchers in the field of biocatalysis. Their timely contributions are sincerely appreciated."

The First Wiggers Bernard Conference on Shock, Sepsis, and Organ Failure was envisaged as a meeting of American and European Scientists. It was named after two researchers, one from the "Old" and one from the "New World," who are wellknown for their outstanding achievements in shock research and experimental medicine. This meeting was a point of de parture for a series of workshops that will focus on two to three main topics dealt with in detail by experts in their respective fields. The First Wiggers Bernard Conference addressed three main questions: 1. Multi-organ-failure - is it a sequence of organ failures or a systemic disease? 2. Cellular events in trauma and sepsis - are they due to suppression, activation or both? 3. Mediators of organ failure - are LPS or sepsis necessary? Although many answers were given in this first session, numerous issues remain to be clarified due to the enormous complexity of the subject. How ever, the stage was set for encounters between clinicians and basic medical researchers, since theoretical knowledge will be useful to the clinician ex ploring new approaches to diagnosis, prophylaxis, and therapy. The conference could not have been organized without the generous sup port of the Immuno Company, Vienna, Austria. May we express our special thanks to Dr. Eibl, managing director and head of the research division of Immuno AG, not only for granting financial support but also for his valuable advice, encouragement, and scientific expertise."

Although there are a number of excellent current reviews on one or another aspect of cytomegalovirus, the last comprehensive treatment of this subject was that of Krech et al. (197la). In view of the amazing advances in the virological, epidemiologic, and clinical knowledge of cytomegaloviruses, an up-to-date book is needed. Such a work should cover many areas of expertise and a voluminous technical literature. Each area might have been reviewed and analyzed by workers more expert than myself. However, I have embarked on the entire venture alone in order to attain unity and continuity in this book, characteristics that are not easily achieved in the more popular multiauthored works. I have tried to review the Iiterature and provide a critical summary for each area discussed. To do this, I provide as much of the primary data of the relevant works as needed and not just the qualitative conclusions. Inevitably, the flow of the narrative may be interrupted by dry facts and figures. However, such information is essential to make this a meaningful reference work. But for those not interested in such details, I have provided at what I hope are crucial points critiques and summaries. This book is not an exhaustive review of all the literature. This is probably no Ionger possible or even desirable. By selection, however, one runs the risk of having missed or ignored important papers. I am keenly aware of this, and I wish to apologize for such oversight, if that is possible.

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.