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New trachoma bookHugh R Taylor (2008). Trachoma. A blinding scourge from the bronze age to the twenty-first century. Hardback, 304 pages. Published by: Centre for Eye Research, East Melbourne, Australia. ISBN: 9780975769591. $Aus 132. Publishers flyer and order form (pdf) This magnificent book arrived today, just before the annual sailing trip, and I have barely had time to skim through it. Nevertheless it is clearly something special; there hasn't been a monograph in English on trachoma since 1936. Hugh Taylor, Professor of Ophthalmology and, more recently, of Indigenous Eye Health at the University of Melbourne is a well know trachoma researcher who has published over 600 papers. The chapters covered include an historical introduction; trachoma development and institutions; clinical diagnosis; laboratory diagnosis; biology of chlamydia; epidemiology and reinfection; pathogenesis; vaccine development; trachoma control and the SAFE strategy; and finally will trachoma disappear before it is eliminated. The breadth is matched by depth; there are for example some 780 literature citations. I wonder for how many decades this is going to be the standard monograph? Copiously illustrated in colour and very readable, this is almost a coffee table book were it not for the pictures of upturned eye lids, corneal scarring and latrines. Strongly recommended; I'm taking it with me on the boat! Available from amazon.com click here. $USD 134 [MEW] April 11th 2008 |
