Tropical Medicine Notebook (2017) is a smallish book (about 200 pages) crammed with usefully organized text, tables and drawings to help you learn and retain virtually all key ideas in medical microbiology. It’s an ideal handbook to have on your person as you try to learn or relearn the vast field of clinical microbiology in easy-to-digest bite-sized pieces. In addition to the tropical diseases, the book also covers most of the important pathogens seen in developed countries. So, to be fair, this is as much a medical microbiology book as it is a tropical diseases book.
One particularly useful feature is the Disease Syndromes box. Many microorganisms are capable of causing different diseases, so the book lists and explains them all. Take anthrax as an example:
- Cutaneous anthrax, which is transmitted via direct inoculation of the skin.
- Oropharyngeal anthrax or gastrointestinal anthrax, which is acquired via ingestion of infected meat, while
- Pulmonary anthrax, which is acquired via inhalation of spores (page 17).
This feature helps you not only understand the bugs better, but also the sometimes distinct clinical presentations that go along with them.
Unfortunately, the book is a bit too information-dense and some of the drawings are, frankly, unsightly. This makes the book very hard to read and absorb in a single sitting. (See Tropical Medicine: A Clinical Text if you are interesting in more of a narrated clinical guide). Regardless, I hope future editions of this book have larger pages. This would make the material clearer and easier to absorb.
Despite these limitations, I highly recommend Tropical Medicine Notebook (2017) to all medical students and clinicians who want to learn or brush up on clinical medical microbiology. The book is one of the best in its genre.
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