Mims' Medical Microbiology and Immunology

Citation

Goering, R., Dockrell, H. M., Zuckerman, M., & Chiodini, P. L. (2024). Mims' Medical Microbiology and Immunology (7th ed.). Elsevier.

Chapter Summary

The seventh edition has 37 chapters in five sections and runs to about 620 pages. Its structure follows a single idea stated in the publisher's description: infection is a contest between microbes and host. The book introduces each side, describes the encounter between them, works through infections organ system by organ system, and ends with diagnosis and control. Section and chapter titles below are those of the published table of contents.

Section 1: The Adversaries – Pathogens (Chapters 1–9)

Chapter 1, Pathogens as parasites; Chapter 2, The bacteria; Chapter 3, The viruses; Chapter 4, The fungi; Chapter 5, The protozoa; Chapter 6, The helminths; Chapter 7, The arthropods; Chapter 8, Prions; Chapter 9, The host–parasite relationship. The first side of the contest is introduced group by group, from bacteria and viruses through fungi and parasites to arthropods and prions, framed by an opening chapter on pathogens as parasites and a closing one on the host–parasite relationship.

Section 2: The Adversaries – Host Defences (Chapters 10–12)

Chapter 10, The innate defences of the body; Chapter 11, Adaptive immune responses bring specificity; Chapter 12, Cooperation leads to effective immune responses. Three chapters set out the immune system: innate defences first, then the specificity of adaptive responses, then the way the two cooperate.

Section 3: The Conflicts (Chapters 13–18)

Chapter 13, Background to the infectious diseases; Chapter 14, Entry, exit and transmission; Chapter 15, Immune defences in action; Chapter 16, Spread and replication; Chapter 17, Parasite survival strategies and persistent infections; Chapter 18, Pathologic consequences of infection. This section follows an infection through its course: how microbes get in and out and pass between hosts, how immune defences act against them, how they spread and multiply, how some evade defences and persist, and how infection damages tissue.

Section 4: Clinical Manifestation and Diagnosis of Infections by Body System (Chapters 19–31)

Chapter 19, Upper respiratory tract infections; Chapter 20, Lower respiratory tract infections; Chapter 21, Urinary tract infections; Chapter 22, Sexually transmitted infections; Chapter 23, Gastrointestinal tract infections; Chapter 24, Obstetric and perinatal infections; Chapter 25, Central nervous system infections; Chapter 26, Infections of the eye; Chapter 27, Infections of the skin, soft tissue, muscle and associated systems; Chapter 28, Vector-borne infections; Chapter 29, Multisystem zoonoses; Chapter 30, Fever of unknown origin; Chapter 31, Infections in the compromised host. The clinical core of the book. The publisher describes this systems approach as covering epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis and diagnosis for each group of infections. Beyond the organ systems, the section has chapters on vector-borne infections, zoonoses, fever of unknown origin and infection in compromised patients.

Section 5: Diagnosis and Control (Chapters 32–37)

Chapter 32, Diagnosis of infection and assessment of host defence mechanisms; Chapter 33, Epidemiology and control of infectious diseases; Chapter 34, Attacking the enemy: antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy; Chapter 35, Protecting the host: vaccination; Chapter 36, Specific and non-specific immunotherapy; Chapter 37, Infection control. The final section covers laboratory diagnosis, epidemiology, antimicrobial treatment, vaccination, immunotherapy and infection control.

Key Concepts

Sections 1–2: The Adversaries

• Pathogens as parasites: the book's framing of disease-causing microbes as parasites of their human host.
• The host–parasite relationship: infection seen as an interaction between two sides rather than the action of the microbe alone.
• Innate and adaptive immunity: the non-specific first-line defences of the body and the specific responses that follow, which must cooperate to be effective.

Section 3: The Conflicts

• Entry, exit and transmission: how microbes enter the body, leave it and pass to new hosts.
• Persistent infection: the survival strategies that let some pathogens evade host defences and remain in the body.
• Pathologic consequences of infection: the damage that results from infection.

Sections 4–5: Clinical Infection and Its Control

• Systems approach: infections grouped by the organ system they affect rather than by organism.
• Fever of unknown origin and the compromised host: clinical problems in which the cause of infection is not obvious from the organ involved.
• Antimicrobial chemotherapy and vaccination: the two main ways of attacking pathogens and protecting the host.
• Infection control: the measures that prevent the spread of infection, the book's final topic.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Microbiology and immunology in one framework. The table of contents introduces pathogens and host defences as the two "adversaries" and then devotes a section to their conflict. This makes the book suited to integrated curricula that teach infection and immunity together.
• Organised by body system. The publisher presents the body-system arrangement as going beyond the "bug parade", the organism-by-organism approach of many microbiology texts. Section 4's thirteen chapters follow infections as a clinician meets them: by site and presentation.
• Learning aids. The publisher lists colour coding, key concept boxes and illustrations in the book, with electronic supplements: a cross-referenced Pathogen Parade glossary of organisms, a Vaccine Parade covering commonly used vaccines, and clinical cases with multiple-choice self-assessment. A 2025 Doody's review by Carlos E. Figueroa Castro (three stars) singled out its balanced approach, current content and high-quality visual aids.
• A manageable length. At about 620 pages the book covers both subjects in far less space than a single-subject reference text.

Limitations

• Organism-level detail lives partly outside the chapters. Because Section 4 is organised by body system, the systematic summary of individual organisms is the electronic Pathogen Parade rather than a set of chapters. Students who prefer to learn microbiology organism by organism, or need a quick organism reference, should keep one at hand.
• Immunology in compact form. Host defences receive three chapters in Section 2, with immune mechanisms returning in Chapters 15 and 36. Courses that teach immunology in depth will need a dedicated immunology text alongside.
• Some material is online only. The Pathogen Parade, Vaccine Parade, clinical cases and self-assessment questions are electronic supplements rather than parts of the printed book.

Where It Fits in the Course

Mims is the main integrated textbook of this course list, covering both microbiology and immunology. Two short books serve as entry points: Gillespie and Bamford's Medical Microbiology and Infection at a Glance, a set of illustrated double-page spreads that gives a first framework, and Sompayrac's How the Immune System Works, a brief conversational account of the immune response that makes Mims's Section 2 easier to follow.

For more depth on one side or the other, three books follow. Abbas, Lichtman and Pillai's Basic Immunology develops immunology in far more detail than Mims's three chapters and suits courses with a separate immunology module. Jawetz, Melnick & Adelberg's Medical Microbiology is a long reference on the organisms themselves, useful for the organism-level detail that Mims places in its Pathogen Parade. Mims' Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease is a more advanced companion that follows microbes through the stages of infection, taking the themes of Section 3 further.

How to Use This Book

The book is written for students in medical and related programmes who are learning microbiology and immunology together, typically after early courses in cell biology, biochemistry and physiology.

A practical plan:

• Read Sections 1–3 in order at the start of a microbiology and immunology course. Section 1 can be skimmed for orientation and returned to as reference; Chapters 9–18 build the core understanding of how infection works.
• Use Section 4 by system. Chapters 19–31 can follow the order of a systems-based curriculum: read the respiratory chapters with the respiratory block, for example.
• Do not skip Section 5. Diagnosis, epidemiology, antimicrobials, vaccination and infection control are the practical skills that clinical work builds on.

Use the electronic Pathogen Parade while reading Section 4 to check the organisms each chapter mentions, and the Vaccine Parade alongside Chapter 35. Work through the clinical cases and multiple-choice questions after each section rather than at the end of the course. Students taking a separate immunology module should read Section 2 alongside a dedicated immunology text.