Atlas of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (2019) offers a bleak and sometimes depressing window into the state of health, or lack thereof, of underdeveloped countries, particularly those in Africa. The names of the diseases and symptoms are fearsome and sometimes curious: dengue, blackwater fever, rabies, leprosy, bubonic plague and more. The images are equally striking and grim – almost impossible to forget. (I reviewed a previous edition of this book elsewhere so I will restate the review here with relevant updates and changes).
The authors do an excellent job with diseases that are prevalent in developed countries as well. For example, sickle-cell disease, gonorrhea, Lyme disease and AIDS are all covered in excellent and vivid detail. It’s almost as though these patients’ stories are coming through the pages of the book.
The 2019 edition has been updated considerably. Firstly, if you could even believe it, the previous edition was printed way back in 2006 and came with a CD-ROM! The current edition has hundreds of new images, and covers many new emerging diseases. The text has been streamlined and the maps and life cycle diagrams have been updated. (It doesn’t come with a CD-ROM because Kindle and also because what’s a CD-ROM?).
I recommend this book to medical students and to anyone who is interested in infectious diseases, particularly tropical diseases. As for everyone else, if you live in endemic areas, you should read the book to become more familiar with what’s going on around you. If you don’t live in endemic areas, you should read the book to realize how fortunate you are.
Participation Questions
- What do you think of this book?
- What is your favorite tropical medicine learning resource and why?
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