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The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug-resistant Bacteria

Authors: Michael Shnayerson, Mark Plotkin
Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks
Category: Book

Buy Used: Ł27.25

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

2 reviews
Sales Rank: 463466

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 328
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.1

ISBN: 0751534811
EAN: 9780751534818
ASIN: 0751534811

Publication Date: April 3, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ex Library, couple of stamps, otherwise spine, leaves and cover all in clean acceptable condition, plastic protective jacket. Despatched from UK within 24 hours.

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

For me to know, and you to read about, now! March 1, 2005
How could we all be at the fore-front of a war and not know about it? Because it's one of those issues that people undermine and officials try to keep hush so panic does not strike out. Well, I'm asking you to start panicking now. The primary reason that humans are gradually being killed off one-by-one by bacteria with no-one noticing is because we like to reproduce a lot and frequently. However, not as much as some it would seem; bacteria replicate millions of themselves around every 6 hours and with every generation is likely to be an improved characteristic that takes it another step forward towards developing resistance against one more of our drugs. (There already exists bacteria resistant to our most virulent antibiotic, vancomycin). Now it doesn't take great mathematical ability to realise that the odds are against us, what chance have we against the evolution of a micro-organism which is believed to have survived even the ice age? I like to think of it as nature's way of punishing us for being disrespectful (whilst more and more of us are being sentenced to the death penalty). Now only time will tell if we live to actually see global warming make our world inhabitable.
[Executive Director of the World Health Organisation himself says: "If a public health crisis of major proportions is to be averted, books such as this one need to be read by consumers as well as the authorities"] God knows we're on the verge of death, do you?

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book. Every one should read it. May 22, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book describes the problem of the bacteria developing resistance to the many antibiotics that humans are using to fight them and, the most important, that we are losing this battle. The book talks about the reasons behind this : overuse and abuse of antibiotics by us, use of antobiotics as "growth enhancers" and so on. I am already aware of this resistance problem but after reading this book I was thrilled and frightened. If we do not change our ways of using antibiotics soon then we will soon be unable to fight those drug resistant bacteria when they cause infections and a huge health problem will unfold. I for one strongly agree with the authors that antibiotics use as "growth enhancers" should be totally banned as soon as possible.