Medical Microbiology and Infection at a Glance

Citation

Gillespie, S. H., & Bamford, K. B. (2022). Medical Microbiology and Infection at a Glance (5th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

Chapter Summary

The book follows the "at a Glance" format: 66 short chapters, each a double-page spread in which a page of diagrams faces a page of concise text, in about 160 pages. The chapters are grouped in six parts, from general concepts through the main groups of pathogens to infections organized by clinical syndrome. The preface to the fifth edition explains that the revision was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic and against growing concern about antibiotic resistance; epidemiological, diagnostic and therapeutic content was updated throughout, figures were revised or newly drawn, and new chapters were added on innate immunity, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal therapy, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, the response to emerging infections and chronic respiratory infections. A companion website offers interactive self-assessment case studies and revision notes for each chapter.

Part 1: Concepts (Chapters 1–15)

Chapter 1, "Microbial pathogens, classification and concepts", sets the pattern: a diagram of bacterial structure and the criteria used to classify bacteria (Gram reaction, shape, oxygen requirements, spores, biochemical and serological tests, genome sequencing) faces text on bacterial components and on the medically important groups, from Gram-positive cocci to spiral bacteria. The following chapters cover "Innate and acquired immunity", "The 'normal' flora in health and disease", "Pathogenicity and pathogenesis of infectious disease" and "Making a microbiological diagnosis of infection". Treatment is covered in "Antimicrobial therapy – principals and concepts", "Antibacterial agents – pharmacology and modes of action", "Antimicrobial use and stewardship" and "Emergence and detection of resistance". The part ends with public-health topics: "Sources and transmission of infection", "Principles of infection control", "Infection in the healthcare environment", "Immunization", "Emerging infections" and "High consequence infectious diseases and bioterrorism preparedness".

Part 2: Bacteriology (Chapters 16–33)

Eighteen chapters on bacterial pathogens, grouped largely by organism: Staphylococcus; haemolytic streptococci; other Gram-positive cocci and the alpha-haemolytic streptococci; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Listeria, Bacillus and non-diphtheria corynebacteria; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; non-tuberculous mycobacteria and leprosy; Clostridium and non-sporing anaerobes; Neisseria and Moraxella; the small Gram-negative coccobacilli; the pathogenicity and clinical syndromes of enteric Gram-negative bacteria; Vibrio, Campylobacter and Helicobacter; environmental pathogens such as Pseudomonas and Legionella; Chlamydia, Mycoplasma and Rickettsia; and spiral bacteria.

Part 3: Virology (Chapters 34–44)

Virus structure and classification and antiviral therapy come first, then herpesviruses (two chapters), DNA viruses (adenovirus, parvovirus and poxvirus), measles, mumps and rubella, influenza, parainfluenza and other respiratory viruses, enteroviruses and gastrointestinal viruses, hepatitis viruses, and tropical, exotic or arbovirus infections.

Part 4: Mycology (Chapters 45–47)

Yeast infections, filamentous fungi, and antifungal drugs and therapy.

Part 5: Parasitology (Chapters 48–51)

Intestinal protozoa; malaria, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis; intestinal helminths; and tissue helminths.

Part 6: Systemic infection (Chapters 52–66)

Fifteen chapters organized by clinical problem rather than organism: congenital and perinatal infections, HIV infection and AIDS, pyrexia of unknown origin and puerperal sepsis, sepsis, endocarditis, myocarditis and pericarditis, infections of the central nervous system, acute respiratory infections, chronic lung infections and hospital-acquired pneumonia, urinary and genital infections, bone and joint infections, bacterial diarrhoeal disease, zoonoses, infections in immunocompromised patients, ocular infections, and skin and soft-tissue infections.

Key Concepts

Part 1: Concepts

• Bacterial classification: grouping bacteria by Gram reaction, shape, growth requirements, spores, biochemistry, serology and DNA sequence, which guides both diagnosis and antibiotic choice.
• Pathogenicity and pathogenesis: how microorganisms cause disease, set against the normal flora that lives with us in health.
• Antimicrobial stewardship and resistance: using antimicrobials so as to limit the emergence of resistance, and detecting resistance when it arises.
• Infection control: the principles for preventing transmission, especially in healthcare settings.

Parts 2–5: The Pathogens

• Organism-based chapters: each major bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic group presented with its diseases on a single spread.
• Antiviral and antifungal therapy: treatment chapters placed within the virology and mycology parts.

Part 6: Systemic infection

• Syndrome-based approach: infections organized by the clinical picture, as patients present, rather than by organism.
• Infection in the vulnerable host: congenital and perinatal infection, HIV, and infection in immunocompromised patients.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Compact and visual. Every topic is a single spread with a diagram page and a text page. Chapter 1, for example, condenses the structural features and classification criteria of bacteria into one labelled figure. The format makes the book quick to read through and easy to revise from.
• Two ways in. Parts 2–5 are organized by organism and Part 6 by clinical syndrome, so the same knowledge can be approached the way a laboratory sees it and the way a clinician meets it.
• Strong on prevention and treatment principles. Four chapters of Part 1 deal with antimicrobial therapy, stewardship and resistance, and six more with transmission, infection control, healthcare-associated infection, immunization, and emerging and high-consequence infections. The preface links this emphasis to the pandemic and to resistance.
• Revision support. The companion website adds interactive self-assessment cases and chapter-by-chapter revision notes.

Limitations

• Brevity. Two pages per topic cannot give the mechanisms, laboratory detail or management that a full textbook provides; the book is a framework, as the authors themselves describe it, on which fuller knowledge is to be built.
• Immunology in outline only. A single spread covers innate and acquired immunity; students need a separate immunology text.
• Cross-references to check. In Chapter 1 some pointers to later chapters do not match the fifth edition's numbering (for example, Bacillus is referred to Chapter 16, which is on Staphylococcus, while Bacillus appears in Chapter 20), so use the contents and index to locate topics.
• No printed questions. Self-assessment is provided on the companion website, not in the book.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the beginner's map of infection in the course, and it pairs naturally with Sompayrac's How the Immune System Works, which explains the host side in a similarly short book. Read the two together early on, then move to the fuller texts. Mims' Medical Microbiology and Immunology integrates microbiology with immunology and works through infections organ system by organ system, so it deepens both Part 1 and Part 6 here. Jawetz, Melnick & Adelberg's Medical Microbiology is the long-running single-volume reference on the organisms themselves, the natural next step from Parts 2–5. Mims' Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease takes the subject of Chapter 4 much further, following infection stage by stage. For immunology beyond the outline in Chapter 2, use Abbas, Lichtman and Pillai's Basic Immunology.

How to Use This Book

The publisher addresses the book to undergraduates in medicine and medical science, to foundation doctors and interns who want a rapid update, and to students in nursing, laboratory science and general microbiology. Basic cell biology and an outline of the immune system are enough background.

A practical plan:

• Start with Part 1. Read Chapters 1–15 in order; they provide the vocabulary (classification, pathogenesis, diagnosis, antimicrobials, infection control) that every later spread assumes.
• Learn the organisms in blocks. Take Parts 2–5 a group at a time, alongside lectures on the same organisms. For each spread, cover the text page and try to explain the diagram, then check.
• Finish with Part 6. The syndrome chapters work best after the organisms: for each syndrome, list the likely pathogens and the tests you would send, then read the spread to check your list.
• Use the website for the self-assessment cases and revision notes, especially before examinations.

Because each topic is short, the book also works as a quick reference on clinical placements: read the relevant spread before or after seeing a patient with an infection, then follow up in a fuller textbook for the detail.