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No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses
by
Peter Piot
When Peter Piot was in medical school, a professor warned, “There’s no future in infectious diseases. They’ve all been solved.” Fortunately, Piot ignored him, and the result has been an exceptional, adventure-filled career. In the 1970s, as a young man, Piot was sent to Central Africa as part of a team tasked with identifying a grisly new virus. Crossing into the quarantin...more
Hardcover, 388 pages
Published
May 28th 2012
by W. W. Norton & Company
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Piot's story begins with his work in the 70s on Ebola, a swift and terrifying killer. The first portion of the book is a riveting adventure combining science, sociology, and a desperate puzzle - a genuine "Outbreak" situation. The latter portion of the book deals with Piot's work with AIDS, in many ways an even greater horror with its quiet yet global reach. Because AIDS kills slowly, it has been studied and combated quite differently than many less patient viruses. Piot's work with WHO and the...more
How does one define an epidemic? Scientists use formulas. Patients count the days they’ve stayed alive. Caregivers and medical professionals working in the trenches of the epidemic measure it in lives saved and lost, while trying to grasp its reality. Healthcare insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and politicians look beyond the related despair and death, some for possible solutions, others for profit.
Who can better define an epidemic than someone who has spent a lifetime studying it,...more
Who can better define an epidemic than someone who has spent a lifetime studying it,...more
When Piot was a young medical student in the early 1970s, a professor told him that a specialty in infectious diseases was pointless since medical science was on the cusp of eradicating nearly all those deadly scourges. A few years later in a research lab in Belgium, a blood sample arrived from Zaire from a patient who had died of a mysterious hemorrhagic ailment. So began Piot's virus-hunting career, in this particular case the discovery of a totally new and particularly deadly one that further...more
This was not the book I was expecting, although it turned out to be quite interesting. As an epidemiology junkie, I found the first third of the book, in which Piot played a key role in the investigation of the first Ebola Zaire outbreak, fascinating. I have read a fair amount regarding that diseases and investigation and it's always interesting to see it from another perspective.
After Ebola, Piot turned to STDs and was perfectly positioned to be one of the first to see AIDS coming upon us. His...more
After Ebola, Piot turned to STDs and was perfectly positioned to be one of the first to see AIDS coming upon us. His...more
Peter Piot's career began with his decision to work in the field of infectious diseases. The real excitement began when he was sent from his native Belgium to Africa to investigate the first outbreak of Ebola virus in Congo. By the time this deadly virus was investigated and named, and causes identified through careful study and detective work, HIV was on the scene. Dr. Piot's life's work was cut out for him. He worked unstintingly, traveled almost incessantly, evolved abilities as a manager, de...more
Ebola, AIDS, these are viruses that the mere mention can cause people to become worried and alarmed. While there have been many campaigns to bring awareness to the causes that seek to treat and prevent them, there is still a certain stigma that hangs on to them. Peter Piot, in his work as UNAIDS head, seeks to reducer that stigma and help prevent the spread of AIDS with his work, and wrote this book to accompany those ideas.
Piot started off in medical school with the notion that he wanted to spe...more
Piot started off in medical school with the notion that he wanted to spe...more
This is an adventure book with possibly deadly outcomes. It's the true life story of Peter Piot's journey to rid the world of deadly viruses. And despite the subject, it is tremendously interesting. It's inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time. Starting in Africa with the Ebola virus through the worldwide epidemic of AIDS, Piot skillfully tells the story of its victims and families and what the world did and could have done to stop or contain these horrible diseases. We see the frustrating...more
Peter Piot's No Time To Lose is definately not fiction. I preferred the beginning and his experiences with the Ebola virus. It was fascination. The book bogs down when you get into the Aids section. The politics behind it all is dry reading and the dates go back and forth. I did come away with a sad feeling that governments will let it's citzens suffer and not cooperate with wach other. If they could get together and pool resources and manpower not only would the fight against Aids be better off...more
There surely cannot be a better autobiography by a former UN agency head than this. Candid observations from the man who has been at the centre of the global AIDS response for the last quarter of a century, and before that, at the heart of the first recorded Ebola outbreak in (then) Zaire. Compelling, disturbing and enthralling. Cannot recommend it more highly.
My three complaints?
First the title; 'No Time to Lose'. So lacking in originality, I found six other books on Amazon with the same name....more
My three complaints?
First the title; 'No Time to Lose'. So lacking in originality, I found six other books on Amazon with the same name....more
Fascinating book. Written by 'just an ordinary guy from the Kempen' who made it to director of USAID. It's nice to recognize names of colleagues who work or worked at the Institute of Tropical Medicine. The first part of the book was the most interesting, where Peter Piot works in the field, has to improvise a lot. The second part is more about finding his way in the bureaucracy and walking on several wires at the same time to keep everyone satisfied, to compromise. He has dined with the greates...more
I have never read a book with so many acronyms on each page.
I was for more interested in the science and sociology surrounding the infectious diseases that the United Nations combats on a global level. National and international politics do seem to be the driving force behind international health campaigns, however.
Peter Piot's memoir spans thirty years. When he began his career in infectious diseases he was told it was a dead end, that all the infectious diseases had been conquered. This turned...more
I was for more interested in the science and sociology surrounding the infectious diseases that the United Nations combats on a global level. National and international politics do seem to be the driving force behind international health campaigns, however.
Peter Piot's memoir spans thirty years. When he began his career in infectious diseases he was told it was a dead end, that all the infectious diseases had been conquered. This turned...more
Jul 27, 2012
Erin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Health Care Professionals, scientists, HIV/AIDS patients & families, Interested Parties
Recommended to Erin by:
NPR
"No Time To Lose" is the extraordinary memoir of Peter Piot. Piot (@NoTime_ToLose) has dedicated his life to treating, preventing, and eventually eradicating HIV/AIDS. His incredible life as an epidemiologist starts with the spread of the Ebola virus. This experience gave him unmatched experience that was vital to controlling the spread of HIV in Africa. Shortly after getting control of Ebola, his lab started seeing mysterious illnesses of a similar kind coming from patients all over the world.
P...more
P...more
Nov 18, 2012
Deyara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
xc-read-in-2012,
c-non-fiction-deyara,
char-scientists,
memoir,
setting-africa,
medical,
science
Really enjoyed the first part of the book, but then found the political second part pretty hard-going. Peter Piot seems quite a character, but the second half of the book still dragged. Interesting though, and the first half is really engaging - as a layperson he told his story in such a way that even though I dont know how to culture viruses, I could still follow what was going on as he was doing it. Recommended, though I wont blame you for skimming near the end :)
Peter Piot (2012) No Time to Lose, A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses
Piot was on the front lines of retrovirus and std research and treatment and public policy. The book starts with his years as a scientist/adventurer in remote Africa and ends when he leaves the UN as Director of UNAIDS. It is a compelling, sometimes humorous, sometimes exciting, and truly amazing story. He was a major player in the battle against HIV/AIDS.
i'm just as surprised as you are that i hated this book about epidemics! i stopped reading officially with the sentence, "i still can not look at small ornaments made in china without wondering who made them," which came after my resolution to skim at the sentence "i sometimes sing in his rock band." so maybe the end picked up and he stopped complaining about meetings and listing his "friends for life," but probably it did NOT.
I had to return this popular book to the library before I was able to finish it, but I read enough to appreciate the tremendous challenge of dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDS. I was most interested in reading about the microbiology portion of Mr. Piot's early career when he was dealing directly with patients, but it was good to see what was involved for him when he became head of UNAIDS. What a responsibility he had, dealing with the issues of donations, competition between agencies, religious...more
The parts where he is actually working to figure out the spread of the infection are best. He spends a little to long mentioning every person he has ever worked with. Then again, if I were one of those people I would want my name in the book.
It started so strong. I love books like this and the stories about discovering Ebola were exciting and fascinating. The second half of the book was a snorefest -- recaps of meetings. Not exactly what I wanted to read.
Excellent book on the fight to stem the tide of HIV amidst the horrors of global policy and egocentric posturing on the part of wold leaders and government organizations. I would love to here Piot lecture, it would be fascinating. Worth reading.
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Really interesting read, from field work to UN committees his experience brings together both the diseases and policies of a recent era.
3.5 stars. The first portion of the book, about discovering Ebola and AIDS was absolutely fascinating, but the book turned dry when his career shifted to heading a UN agency. That part of the book was interesting, just difficult to read. Also exceeding frustrating as the world's political response, or lack thereof, to this epidemic shows the truth that "man has dominated man to his injury" Ecc. 8:9, and even with their best efforts, that "it does not belong to man who is walking, even to direct...more
If I would have been more adept at math I think I may have pursued a career in epidemiology--it's a fascinating field! Unfortunately this book was more about the author's experiences working with the UN and WHO to address AIDS and other public health problems. It was very tedious in places where he seemed to drop dozens of names without much explanation. I wasn't expecting this to be the same as the Hot Zone , but I was hoping that Piot would have devoted more of the book to his early experienc...more
The first half is great; the second a detailed recitation of policy meetings.
Interesting memoir of one of the scientists who was on the forefront of the discoveries of Ebola and AIDS. Dry at times.
Doctor details fights
Against Ebola, AIDS. Shows
Development hard.
Against Ebola, AIDS. Shows
Development hard.
Good book but definitely for people who have an interest in this sort of stuff. I did like the Lessons of the chameleon in the book--mostly the sticking to your goal and being flexible.
Interesting and eye opening. Beginning is about the author's part in discovering the Ebola virus in the 70's.
He then continues his career doing research into STD's which leads into HIV/AIDS research and the medical/human rights efforts to help Africa with the devastating epidemic. Towards the end it gets a little bogged down in UN political stuff.
He then continues his career doing research into STD's which leads into HIV/AIDS research and the medical/human rights efforts to help Africa with the devastating epidemic. Towards the end it gets a little bogged down in UN political stuff.
Really interesting when he was talking about his field experiences during the early Ebola and AIDS epidemics. It got pretty boring when he started talking about his experiences with the WHO and UNAIDS.
So far this book is really a good read. I have degrees in microbiology as does this author, but this is not textbook reading at all. It's written as a memoir that is readable by any general reader even one with no science background. Parts of it read like a medical thriller.
I'd give five stars to the first hundred or so pages, and two stars to the rest. The story of "discovering" Ebola was fascinating, but once his career trajectory left science and entered policy bureaucracies, the book lost me.
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Peter Piot, MD, PhD, is the director of the legendary London School of Tropical Medicine, former undersecretary general of the UN, and former director of UNAIDS. He lives in London.
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