The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
by Laurie Garrett
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 524)
Wow. This woman is amazing. I would never have thought that I'd spend entire days reading an 800-page book about diseases...but I did, because Laurie Garrett is one of those rare scientists who can write captivating sentences. This book chronicles both the emergence of, and response to, historically important deadly diseases and the role of the CDC, other government agencies, and nasty scientist political maneuvering in the attempts to contain said diseases.
I also like this book because...more
I also like this book because...more
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Read in January, 1996
I was obsessed with infectious diseases in the late 90s. For a while all I wanted to talk about was Ebola, Lassa & Kuru. I was put back on it now as I am preparing adventures in some of the countries mentioned in this book. The medical prep I've undertaken for these travels revealed I've been carrying a tropical parasite for a couple of years. This book along with titles by CJ Peters & Arlo Karlen rather than frighten this reader in to staying at home put issues of public health into per...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
people interested in public health and infectious disease
I liken most of the early scenes in this book to the movie "Outbreak" (1995) starring Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo, in which you get a pretty graphic introduction to the physical and psychological harm that a deadly airborn virus can do. For those with a sensitive stomach, I do not recommend this book.
It is, however, an exciting and interesting read. "The Coming Plague" is part thriller, part detective story, and part fantastic overview of the world's worst diseases. Gar...more
It is, however, an exciting and interesting read. "The Coming Plague" is part thriller, part detective story, and part fantastic overview of the world's worst diseases. Gar...more
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Read in January, 1995
I was lucky enough to be at a conference where Laurie Garrett was also presenting, and so I had the chance to listen to her, and later to talk with her. She knows this stuff backwards, and while her dire predictions have not yet come to be, she is absolutely right.
She points to the central issue: control and management, and the SARS outbreak a few years ago shows both the good and bad sides of that. The bad side: the cover-ups and repeated lies, continuing to this day, from the Chinese aut...more
She points to the central issue: control and management, and the SARS outbreak a few years ago shows both the good and bad sides of that. The bad side: the cover-ups and repeated lies, continuing to this day, from the Chinese aut...more
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Read in January, 2001
recommends it for:
anyone who cares about their health or the health of their families
If you don't mind biology and learning, this is a great book. It takes you on a journey through the history of various diseases and how they spread, how they become intractable, and why we need to stop messing around with antibiotics the way we do--in cattle feed, in chicken feed, for every sniffle we get. A very interesting read. And not the least boring. It will not turn you into a germaphobe, but it will make you think more about how you do things in general.
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The title puts me off a little, because it sounds like it will be a doomsday alarmist proclamation about how we are creating and ignoring new diseases, and that new diseases are somehow "winning" the evolutionary "war". But in essence, it is a thorough look at how and why "new" diseases emerge and the fight that goes on against new and old diseases every day.
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What an impressively well researched book. It was strange to find that it was published in 1994. The same issues of social/governmental/cultural as well as microbiological influences on our escalating risk for a pandemic still exist (in fact, in some ways are increasing). I actually started reading it a second time the week after I finished it. This is one of those books I'd like to stick under my pillow and have upload into my brain while I sleep....
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recommended to Angel by:
Found it at Border's
recommends it for: ANYONE...except hypochondriacs..
recommends it for: ANYONE...except hypochondriacs..
As a Healthcare Provider, I was drawn to this book for information and for an overview of epidemiology in the past 100 or so years. I am a little more than half-way through, and now I'm just plain freaked out. This is not a book for people who are even slightly germaphobic. But the information is amazing, the research that went in to this books is thorough, and the point, that we affect our environment and it in turns affects us, is so very important now.
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although it's now somewhat out of date, this remains far and away the most comprehensive and interesting book about diseases i've read. what sets this apart from the rest of the disease books on my shelf is the sheer amount of ground covered and how well it's presented. it doesn't particularly seem like it would be a fast read, yet it is.
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(For those of us interested in these things...)An unsettling look at various disease outbreaks and an examination of mankind's hubris re: having "conquered" most infectious diseases. Reads quite like a horror/mystery novel, with the creepy descriptions of symptoms and the detective-style ferreting out of the microbial culprits. A bit morbid and depressing, but compelling nonetheless.
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Read in June, 2004
This is the book that sparked my obsession with viruses, epidemiology, and public health. She has a great writing style that makes it read like a suspense thriller or something. I would also recommend her book "Betrayal of Trust" about how the underfunding of public health is creating a future armageddon of drug resistant tuberculosis and nosocomial strep infections!
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This book was amazing. I originally started reading this book as a research paper for my Environmental Science class, but it became so much more than just a project. This book details the fascinating history of disease (mainly contractible diseases) and the war against them. There is so much that I learned from this book that I can't even begin to detail it.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Science nerds
If you are a science/microbiology/virology nerd type, and you also have a strong feeling of distrust and dislike for the western medical model and global public health policy, read this. It's a bit redundant sometimes, and there are parts where the depth of the virology/microbiology is a bit too much without more background, but overall, it's great.
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recommends it for:
doom freaks
So far: contentwise it's fantastic but formally it falls into that true-crime, appositive-phrase-filled narrative style--"When they studied their results under powerful microscopes, the mystery for Casals only deepened." (79), for example--that I dislike.
Fits well into the postapocalyptic groove I've been in lately.
Fits well into the postapocalyptic groove I've been in lately.
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recommends it for:
Everyone
Looks daunting, but actually a really easy read. And really useful/informative. The message isn't just that the germs will win in the end (though they will), but that rational policies could allow for human coexistence to thrive a while longer. Unfortunately, we seem to be making all the wrong moves...
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Read in January, 1999
an excellent read only rated a three because it is a bit dated and because the (very brief) bits that touch on atmospheric chemistry are apparently not quite accurate. on the other hand, if you are 20-25 years behind on your disease lore, this book is perfect for you!
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investigative reporting and science coinciding --two of my favorite things and Garrett methodically and encyclopedically shows the intersect between corporate, institutional, and political mercenaries and the unfolding ecological brilliance of microbes
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started reading this for microbiology, riveting. it's fascinating and frightening, great insight to the scientific process of how microbes are classified. it's quite a long book but the chapters could be read as separate pieces. don't be intimidated by the girth.
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Yes, this is a total nerd book. It's super dense and took me the better part of 3 years to read from cover to cover, but goes way beyond Ebola virus and Mad Cow Disease scare tactics to describe how microbes do, in fact, have the ability to rule the world.
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Read in January, 2008
I'm in the process of reading this fascinating but very long scientific history about how medical scientists hoped to bring an end to disease in the 20th century but, except for smallpox, endured defeat after defeat. Fascinating book--kudos to the writer.
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