A Rational Approach to Clinical Infectious Diseases: A Manual for House Officers and Other Non-Infectious Diseases Clinicians

by Zelalem Temesgen MD, FIDSA, Larry M. Baddour MD, FIDSA, FAHA, Stacey Rizza MD, FIDSA

Overview

Written specifically for non-infectious disease specialists in both inpatient and outpatient settings, A Rational Approach to Clinical Infectious Diseases provides concise, practical guidance that mimics the decision-making process and reasoning employed by an ID physician. Using clear, understandable language, Dr. Zelalem Temesgen and his esteemed colleagues at the Mayo Clinic present the art and the context of infectious diseases together with the science, helping non-specialists apply a rational approach to the diagnosis and treatment of infectious conditions.

• Clearly explains the rationale of opting for one particular treatment or length of course over another in order to arrange appropriate management and follow-up.

• Provides focused ID decision support to questions such as:

• What diagnostic test should I order?

• What is the correct antibiotic for this patient/geographical region?

• Are IV or oral antibiotics most appropriate?

• How long should the antibiotic course be and when should it be de-escalated?

• What special considerations should be taken in immunocompromised patients?

• How often should complex infections be followed up?

• Uses a succinct, easy-to-read writing style, following a consistent format: Important characteristics/epidemiology; Clinical related data; Rash characteristics; Ancillary diagnostic studies; Treatment; and Other.

• Provides visual and quick-reference support with dozens of figures and tables throughout the text.

• Contains invaluable guidance to help non-specialists provide the best care for patients, stem antibiotic misuse and resistance, avoid adverse drug events, and avoid unnecessary costs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780323695794
Publisher:	Elsevier Health Sciences
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	57 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

Table of Contents

. General Approach to Infectious Diseases Evaluation

2. Interacting with the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory

3. A Primer on Microbiology

4. General Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy

5. A Primer on Antimicrobials

6. Fever of Unknown Origin

7. Fever and Rash

8. Ear, Nose, Throat and Neck Infections

9. Lower Respiratory Tract Infections

10. Select Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Infections

11. Urinary Tract Infections

12. Skin and Soft Tissue Infections

13. Bone and Joint Infections

14. Diagnostic Approach to a Patient with Suspected Central Nervous System Infection

15. Vector-Borne Infections

16. Sepsis

17. Sexually Transmitted Infections

18. HIV Infection

19. Bacteremia

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

The next best thing to an ID consult

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: farrin Alan Manian, MD, MPH (Mercy Hospital St. Louis)
Description: This handbook covers many basic infectious disease topics and conditions encountered by clinicians in their everyday care of patients. The major premise of the book is that regardless of specialty or discipline, clinicians need to have some basic knowledge of infectious diseases that enables them to take a rational approach to their diagnosis and treatment. An online version is available with the purchase of the book.
Purpose: As the title states, this book is intended to serve as a guide to diagnosis and therapy of infectious diseases for non-infectious disease clinicians. An important goal of the book is to improve patient outcomes through a decrease in both antimicrobial resistance and adverse drug events. This is a generally useful book, although the quality of presentations varies a great deal among chapters. The online version provides convenient access to the content.
Audience: The book targets house officers and other clinicians who are not infectious disease specialists. Medical students also may be included in the list of interested readers. Many of the authors and contributors are experts in the field of microbiology and infectious diseases.
Features: The 19 chapters are written by over 30 contributors, many affiliated with Mayo Clinic. The first five chapters cover general topics in infectious diseases such as fever, basic information about the clinical laboratory, and the general principles with an overview of antimicrobial therapy. The remaining chapters cover commonly encountered infectious disease conditions, including lower respiratory tract, urinary tract, skin and soft tissue, and bone and joint infections. Broader topics such as sepsis and bacteremia are also discussed in individual chapters. COVID-19 is not discussed. The book is written in an easy-to-understand style with ample illustrations, including tables and photographs, and occasional algorithms, primarily for diagnostic purposes. Given the breadth of clinical topics, it's likely that medical students and house officers will find much of the introductory information convenient and useful. Despite providing practical information about many infectious disease conditions, the book often suffers from lack of consistency in the presentation of material. For example, although I was particularly pleased to find a "Take-Home Points Box" feature in the opening chapter on the general approach to infectious diseases, I was a bit disappointed that none of the chapters that followed had the same useful format. Similarly, while chapters such as those covering the diagnostic approach to a patient with suspected central nervous system infection and bacteremia used a practical question-and-answer format related to common scenarios encountered in clinical settings, most of the remaining chapters followed a more traditional setup better suited for a textbook. In another example of inconsistencies in presentation, the chapter covering urinary tract infection employs useful illustrative real-world examples of patient care scenarios ranging from asymptomatic bacteriuria to pyelonephritis, while much of the remainder of the book is devoid of any case-based presentations. Another shortcoming is its lack of citations in the body of the text. Although "Suggested Reading" sections are provided at the end of most, but not all, chapters, the number of references varies from as few as two to over 60 and are not always as up to date as readers might hope, even for a book. For example, the chapter on lower respiratory tract infections had only two suggested readings, one from 1999 and one from 2016, without reference to the more updated 2019 American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia. In addition, several myths surrounding common and serious conditions not infrequently encountered by non-infectious disease clinicians could have been dispelled more clearly. For example, the authors could have stressed that, with few exceptions, routine coverage of anaerobes for aspiration pneumonia is not necessary even in those at high risk of aspiration, treatment of influenza in hospitalized patients should include oseltamivir even when symptom onset is greater than 48 hours before admission per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and that spinal epidural abscess is often a medical emergency that should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with severe new-onset back pain, even in those without a history of intravenous drug use.
Assessment: Infectious diseases are common, and clinicians are frequently faced with caring for patients with these conditions regardless of their specialty (witness COVID-19). Although this book contains much useful information for those who are not practicing infectious disease clinicians, it is an amalgam of contributions from various authors that would have benefited from a more practical and useful presentation, such as a question-and-answer or case-based format, as well as inclusion of citations within the body of the text in this era of evidence-based practice. For many topics, non-infectious disease clinicians who wish to seek information and guidance in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases are advised to continue to explore the topic in question beyond this introductory book.

Doody's Review Service