Modern Epidemics

COVID-19 has made us all aware of the fact that we live in a world full of invisible enemies. Normally, we don’t even realize they’re there, but from time to time one of these microscopic creatures becomes powerful enough to turn everything upside down. What are these invisible enemies, and how can we prepare ourselves for the pandemics of the future?

A specialist in the cellular biology of diseases, Salvador Macip explains, in a language everyone can understand, what it means to share the planet with millions of microbes – some wonderful allies, others terrible foes. He provides a concise account of epidemics that changed history, and focuses on the great modern plagues that are still causing millions of deaths every year, from influenza, TB and malaria to COVID-19. Macip also examines the methods we have used – from vaccines to improved sanitation and social distancing – to try to control these invisible enemies.

This authoritative overview of modern epidemics and the pathogens that cause them will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand our world today, a world in which some of the greatest threats to the human species come from the invisible microbes with which we share this planet.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

An ever-present danger

Let’s do our homework

A tool for understanding the present and preparing for the future

Part I Sharing the World with Microorganisms

1 Travel Companions

They were here first

Peaceful passengers

The dark side

A bit of terminology

Bacteria

Viruses: the smallest life form?

Fungi: microscopic mushrooms

2 The Story of a Never-Ending Struggle

The invisible hand behind things

Rats, fleas, and bacteria

The ‘Spanish’ flu

The resuscitated virus

Smallpox, a disease of the past

Poliomyelitis: next on the list?

Cost in lives, cost in money

3 Our Arsenal

Simple but vital

The immune system

The next step forward: vaccines

Cancer vaccines

The papilloma vaccine, a controversial solution

The danger of listening to the wrong people

Future challenges

Antibiotics: the offensive begins

Powerful poisons or a sophisticated messaging system?

Miracles with an expiry date

The microbes of the future

Resting on our laurels

The antibiotics of the future

Antivirals

Who pays the bills?

Control and prevention

4 The Danger of Knowing Too Much

The paradox: the more we research, the greater the danger

Dangerous information

Anthrax

Bioterrorists in the USA

The return of smallpox?

5 Forgotten Diseases and New Diseases

Meningitis

Cholera

West Nile virus

Ebola

Marburg: the other serious haemorrhagic fever

The ‘forgotten’ diseases

Chagas disease

Dengue

Hand, foot and mouth disease

6 Coronaviruses and Future Pandemics

Coronaviruses: the new plague?

SARS: the coronaviruses enter the scene

MERS, or camel sickness

COVID-19 changes everything

How to stop the virus

The vaccine race

The future of the pandemic

What lies ahead for SARS-CoV-2

Lessons from COVID-19: how to manage a crisis

And the next pandemic?

Where is the ‘supervirus’?

How can we prevent the spread?

Part II Major Modern Epidemics

7 Influenza

The virus’s thousand faces

The killer cold

A winter malady

A useful treatment

One vaccine or many vaccines?

The future of humanity depends on an egg

The danger of bird flu

The 2009 influenza pandemic

Drugs and the race against time

Epidemic or pandemic?

A change of hemispheres

Prepare for the worst

The consequences of the pandemic

8 AIDS

Another multifaceted virus

The African sickness

A scientists’ squabble

The Nobel of discord

The silent infection

Necessary swift diagnosis

A miraculous treatment … that doesn’t cure

Side effects

The virus becomes more dangerous

Treatments for the future

And the famous vaccine?

Defence is the best attack

Where does the money come from?

Denialists: as dangerous as the virus

9 Tuberculosis

Koch’s bacillus: an armoured microbe

A problem that comes back

The threat of resistant tuberculosis

New treatments, old treatments

Another disease with no vaccine

The tuberculosis that comes from cows

10 Malaria

All because of a mosquito

Goodwill is not enough

The treatment and how to get it to people who need it

Has the time of resistances come?

The controversial SPf66 vaccine

The army is also researching

Against the insects: mosquito nets and genetic engineering

Global action

A tropical disease only?

Epilogue

Glossary

Index

'A timely, authoritative and reader-friendly overview of pandemics past and present. This broad and balanced account, which is devoid of Anglo-American bias, provides fascinating insights into the important events associated with, for example, the defeat of the last Inca Emperor Atahualpa, Chagas disease in Bolivia and the Mexican origin of the 2009 influenza pandemic, as well as explaining the latter’s malignant effects on our preparedness for COVID-19.'
Hugh Pennington, Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen

'Well written and informative and relevant for this difficult era of covid.'
British Society for the History of Medicine

'An important book for understanding a world in which some of the greatest threats are invisible.'
Climate & Capitalism

'This authoritative overview of modern epidemics and the pathogens that cause them will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand our world today.'
Midwest Book Review

'An excellent basis for class discussion about the history of epidemics, equity of resources, and COVID-19, providing many examples of needed improvements.'
Choice

Salvador Macip is head of the Mechanisms of Cancer and Ageing Laboratory in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester and professor at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.