This book is a comprehensive text on the prophylaxis and treatment of opportunistic infections in a fast growing population of immunocompromised hosts. To this end, the array of diseases covered includes not only opportunistic infections exclusively associated with immunocompromised patients but also infectious diseases which even though benign and self-resolving in immunocompetent hosts, have the potential of becoming serious illnesses in immunocompromised patients. These diseases may quickly develop into fulminant or disseminated illness characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates. Opportunistic Infections: Treatment and Prophylaxis is organized into four major parts covering bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal infections. In addition to well-known opportunistic pathogens, each part includes new and emerging species that may be either taxonomically related to a major disease-causing microorganism or microorganisms not until recently considered to be human pathogens. The information contained in this book will include widely accepted prophylactic and treatment regimens based on well-planned large-scale clinical trials, as well as reports from individual cases. To facilitate the quick and convenient access to this information, tables containing recommended prophylactic and therapeutic regimens are included, thus making this an essential resource for all physicians treating these infections.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH: Volume 2: Impact on Global Health covers the scientific aspects of the entire portfolio of NIAID, including microbiology and infectious disease, HIV/AIDS, and immunology and vaccines. All major diseases and the relevant immunology and vaccine development are described in detail. In addition, all major NIAID programs, initiatives, and clinical trials are discussed and illustrate the global involvement of NIAID in biomedical research and its impact on public health worldwide. By providing this information, the global scientific community will be able to access and benefit from these programs and initiatives.

For over 50 years, the mission of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been to conduct and support basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases with the ultimate goal of improving the health of individuals in the United States and around the world. As part of its mission to foster biomedical discovery and to reduce the burden of human disease, NIAID is committed to encouraging the accelerated translation of biomedical discoveries into effective clinical care and public health practice throughout the world. In pursuit of this goal and its disease-specific scientific objectives, NIAID seeks to broaden research opportunities and collaborations involving scientists and institutions outside the United States. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH: Volume 1, Frontiers in Research contains presentations given at the 2006 NIAID Research Conference held in Opatija, Croatia which brought internationally known researchers from the United States and Central and Eastern Europe to focus together on shared interests in microbiology, infectious disease, HIV/AIDS, and basic and clinical immunology. Some of the topics covered include emerging and re-emerging infections, the development of infectious disease prophylactics and therapeutics, drug resistance, and various topics in immunomodulation, autoimmunity, infections and immunity, and the development of vaccines.

Extensive and in-depth, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH: Volume 1, Frontiers in Research is a valuable, comprehensive guide to the state of research today.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH: Volume III: Intramural Research contains a broad overview of the research activity of the NIAID intramural scientists working in the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) and the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), both in the Bethesda campus, and the Rocky Mountains Research Laboratories. Each of these laboratories employs scientists internationally recognized as leaders in their fields of biomedical research.

This volume focuses on individual research contributions by internationally known scientists doing research in the NIAID laboratories.

The major goal of Opportunistic Infections: Treatment and Prophylaxis is to guide cli- cians who provide care for patients suffering from an underlying immunodeficiency that may significantly weaken their immune defenses and will complicate the effective treatment of opportunistic infections. In spite of a wealth of isolated data, no single text exists in which all the essential information about various infectious opportunistic infections. Although I make no claim to completeness, it is my hope that the present book will fulfill that need. To achieve this goal, I have endeavored to integrate both results from large-scale clinical trials and trials involving small numbers of patients, as well as reports of single cases-mindful that such an approach has its limitations. Opportunistic Infections: Treatment and Prophylaxis is organized into four major parts: bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal diseases affecting the immunocompromised population. Each part surveys individual infections caused not only by well-known etiologic agents, but also by new and emerging species often taxonomically closely related to a major disea- producing microorganism and until recently not considered to be human pathogens (Candida spp. and nontuberculous mycobacteria, for example). For the sake of uniformity, within each part, the species have been arranged according to their taxonomic characteristics.