Viruses, Pandemics, and Immunity
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-23 13:51:07
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Arup Chakraborty
- ISBN：0262542382
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
How viruses emerge to cause pandemics， how our immune system combats them， and how diagnostic tests， vaccines， and antiviral therapies work。
Throughout history， humans have contended with pandemics。 History is replete with references to plagues， pestilence， and contagion， but the devastation wrought by pandemics had been largely forgotten by the twenty-first century。 Now， the enormous human and economic toll of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 disease offers a vivid reminder that infectious disease pandemics are one of the greatest existential threats to humanity。 This book provides an accessible explanation of how viruses emerge to cause pandemics， how our immune system combats them， and how diagnostic tests， vaccines， and antiviral therapies work-- concepts that are a foundation for our public health policies。
Throughout history， humans have contended with pandemics。 History is replete with references to plagues， pestilence， and contagion， but the devastation wrought by pandemics had been largely forgotten by the twenty-first century。 Now， the enormous human and economic toll of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 disease offers a vivid reminder that infectious disease pandemics are one of the greatest existential threats to humanity。 This book provides an accessible explanation of how viruses emerge to cause pandemics， how our immune system combats them， and how diagnostic tests， vaccines， and antiviral therapies work-- concepts that are a foundation for our public health policies。
Reviews
Chartokai
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It's not bad at what it does， but I'm not sure who it's made for。 If you want to study microbiology but only the sections on viruses and our immune response to them then maybe this is the book for you。I was only expecting a layman approachable explanation of concepts and was pleasantly surprised。 It's very extensive in a few subjects and required some patience and concentration。 One sentence that caught me off guard in particular was: "When the TCR on a T cell binds strongly to an HLA bound vira It's not bad at what it does， but I'm not sure who it's made for。 If you want to study microbiology but only the sections on viruses and our immune response to them then maybe this is the book for you。I was only expecting a layman approachable explanation of concepts and was pleasantly surprised。 It's very extensive in a few subjects and required some patience and concentration。 One sentence that caught me off guard in particular was: "When the TCR on a T cell binds strongly to an HLA bound viral peptide displayed on a parasitic cell that has eaten the virus， the T cell gets activated。" Unfortunately much of the surrounding topics aren't covered leaving you with little context for the information。 You can still understand most everything with enough effort （and note-taking） but you are often thrown into a dry lecture with things like ordinary differential equations。 This makes it a hard book to recommend。 A couple of things that don't deserve their own section:-It's somewhat unorganized with distant parts of the book continuing other topics。 I can't be too hard on this as there's no way to seamlessly align such diverse topics/fields。-I think the history portion was fine。-The audiobook has "Note to proofer， I think that was a typo， so I'm gonna say that sentence over" which is rather unprofessional in an otherwise well done recording。-This is mostly an American perspective。 E。g。 the small policy segments and the English town 'Berkeley' [bark-lee] being mispronounced [berk-lee]。 。。。more
Aly K
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Informative on an introductory level。 Good choice for anyone who wants to understand viruses， their transmission， and vaccines。
The Inquisitive Biologist
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A useful primer on a number of topics relevant to COVID-19， Viruses， Pandemics， and Immunity cannot escape the fact that the immune system is， well， complicated。 See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist。com/2021。。。 A useful primer on a number of topics relevant to COVID-19， Viruses， Pandemics， and Immunity cannot escape the fact that the immune system is， well， complicated。 See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist。com/2021。。。 。。。more
Tai Tai
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chock full of useful crash course science on viruses and immunology
Abhishek Jaisingh
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A very informative and interesting read。 Explains the historical， present and future trends pertaining to the unprecedented battle between humans and pathogens in a clear and unique way， with a focus on COVID-19。
Ula
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This book delivers exactly what it promises in a forward: condensed， reliable information on an urgent issue。 In a clear yet engaging way， the authors， both acknowledged scientists， are describing the history of studying and treating infectious diseases， adding all the basic facts about the biology of viruses and the immune system。 Highly recommended as an easy-to-digest beginner's guide to the topic， so necessary in this time of the global pandemic。Thanks to the publisher， MIT Press， and NetGal This book delivers exactly what it promises in a forward: condensed， reliable information on an urgent issue。 In a clear yet engaging way， the authors， both acknowledged scientists， are describing the history of studying and treating infectious diseases， adding all the basic facts about the biology of viruses and the immune system。 Highly recommended as an easy-to-digest beginner's guide to the topic， so necessary in this time of the global pandemic。Thanks to the publisher， MIT Press， and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book。 。。。more
Cat
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So many pandemic books are being rushed into print。 This book has lots on info， but not exactly what I was looking for。 I think the most comprehensive books of this pandemic will need to wait until it's over。 I have a gut feeling， though， that much like the Spanish Flu， it will be forgotten about pretty quickly as it gets behind us。 Still， if one needs info this book is pretty good。I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review。 So many pandemic books are being rushed into print。 This book has lots on info， but not exactly what I was looking for。 I think the most comprehensive books of this pandemic will need to wait until it's over。 I have a gut feeling， though， that much like the Spanish Flu， it will be forgotten about pretty quickly as it gets behind us。 Still， if one needs info this book is pretty good。I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review。 。。。more
Stephen
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Incredibly informative！
Steve
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Must reading for the historical and scientific contextI loved this book。 It was a pleasure to read， notwithstanding the grim nature of the subject matter。 All the explanations of the science are clear and there is lots of history。 The illustrations are excellent。 Although the book isn’t long， it covers all the major relevant areas。 This book is a must-read in these times as it is great at placing the current COVID-19 pandemic into the larger historical and scientific context。 Even if these were Must reading for the historical and scientific contextI loved this book。 It was a pleasure to read， notwithstanding the grim nature of the subject matter。 All the explanations of the science are clear and there is lots of history。 The illustrations are excellent。 Although the book isn’t long， it covers all the major relevant areas。 This book is a must-read in these times as it is great at placing the current COVID-19 pandemic into the larger historical and scientific context。 Even if these were not COVID times， the book provides such a great overview that it is a must-read at any time。Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance reader copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes。 。。。more
Lynda Stevens
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This book covers everything within the title: it examines what a vírus is， how a pandemic comes into being， and how immunity either comes into being automatically， or how this can be created， by scientists。It is not clear who this book is intended for， and the details on what a virus is， and how they hijack the human cells to create either sickness or death may be a little hard to follow， or somewhat dry， for those who are not medically minded。 The diagrams were also， all hand-drawn and handwrit This book covers everything within the title: it examines what a vírus is， how a pandemic comes into being， and how immunity either comes into being automatically， or how this can be created， by scientists。It is not clear who this book is intended for， and the details on what a virus is， and how they hijack the human cells to create either sickness or death may be a little hard to follow， or somewhat dry， for those who are not medically minded。 The diagrams were also， all hand-drawn and handwritten， where possibly computerised designs might have been better deployed。 Viruses can scarcely be said to be alive， as they are just free-floating specks of code totally depend on an external host to replicate themselves。 Microbiology is true nano-biology。The history of pandemics and how they spread and come about is possibly more I tetesting to the lay person。 This history begins as microscopic lenses brought about the revelation of what is was recisely about miasma and humours that did allow both bacteria and viruses to spread and cause the disaster that is any kind of plague to wreak its havoc on human societies （there is also the reminder that had humans not first settled in close city communities on proximity to animals， there would never have been any kind of plague。 Plagues are possibly an inevitable consequence of human progress， with the inferred warning that eco systems also need respect， if germs are not to jump species）。 With smallpox it was first the question of immunising by using a 'weakened' form of the germ， before the discovery that the much less lethal cowpox could immunise much more safely。 Hence the term 'vaccination，' from the latin word for 'cow。'The history of the rivalry between Pasteur and Koch in the fight against disease makes an amusing aside in the telling here。 The tragedies of losing children to smallpox， diphtheria， TB， tetanus， polio and measles are now forgotten - clearly now， forgotten all-to well。 Perhaps thecwriters of this book did not want to infer that， but there is certainly the inferences that Science has already done so much to keep these a scourges at bay， and this will surely what will happen in good time with Covid， as advances in combating the disease are described （that this has also led to overpopulation is not necessarily forgotten here， however）。Finally， the demographics of control of the spread of a virus are looked at。 This is all well worth reading， and there is the underlying optimistic message that science and ingenuity in finding new cures will certainly win in the end （and hopefully over ignorance too）， though pandemic awareness does need to be maintained always。 I gave this book a 4 because the graphics looked a little amateurish to my eye， but otherwise this is a very sound and eye-opening read。 。。。more
Patrick Pilz
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Thank you #Netgalley for sharing and ARC with me。A short and very dense informational book on the current corona pandemic written by professionals in the field for the rest of us。 It simplifies the current state of science for the most part， that the average reader can easily comprehend and follow。 I got lost only once， during the part where the authors did some applied mathematics with pandemic forecasting in the chapter explaining the spread of the virus and R0。 Not quite 5 stars because of th Thank you #Netgalley for sharing and ARC with me。A short and very dense informational book on the current corona pandemic written by professionals in the field for the rest of us。 It simplifies the current state of science for the most part， that the average reader can easily comprehend and follow。 I got lost only once， during the part where the authors did some applied mathematics with pandemic forecasting in the chapter explaining the spread of the virus and R0。 Not quite 5 stars because of that and the fact that you can actually detect the fact that different individuals actually wrote the book。 Still， a good primer for intelligent conversations on Covid-19 around the water cooler。 。。。more
Alicia Bayer
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I had high hopes for this book but it wasn't ultimately very helpful for me。 I was hoping for an informational book more about how to survive pandemics， while this is more the history of pandemics and vaccines。 While it was rushed to publication and talks about covid throughout， it wasn't very helpful or up-to-date about it other than projected vaccine technology。My family was exposed to Covid very early in the pandemic and my then 16 year-old son and I became very ill。 He got over the illness i I had high hopes for this book but it wasn't ultimately very helpful for me。 I was hoping for an informational book more about how to survive pandemics， while this is more the history of pandemics and vaccines。 While it was rushed to publication and talks about covid throughout， it wasn't very helpful or up-to-date about it other than projected vaccine technology。My family was exposed to Covid very early in the pandemic and my then 16 year-old son and I became very ill。 He got over the illness itself relatively quickly but then developed a sort of CFS afterwards that weakened him for months。 I became very sick and it was still in the times when they would not test you unless you were hospitalized and told you not to see your doctor or go to the hospital unless you were literally about to die。 As a result， I ended up needing to take charge of my own survival， which I was able to do by following an online group of people around the world who posted the most helpful studies and articles， reading loads of books about viruses and immunity， relying on all of the advice from my most trusted herbal experts， etc。 It was a time when you couldn't even order a thermometer or most medicines （herbal or OTC） online without weeks of waiting and the stores in every town near us where empty of things I would ordinarily rely on。 I got sick in early March and was still very ill in August （the past two months I have been eating a ketogenic diet to manage some of the aftereffects of my illness and that's had an incredible effect on finally healing completely）。 Most of the effects during the summer were from the after-effects of the virus -- I developed incredibly high blood pressure where it had been very low， had blood in my urine and constant pain from kidney damage， had to relearn how to breathe enough， had nerve damage throughout my limbs （and still numbness in two toes）， had blood vessels that burst in my legs for months including one that left a dark blue patch the size of a baseball that faded to a permanent pink scar on my calf， twice stopped breathing completely when I was starting to fall asleep， had extreme pain in my legs， had heart palpitations and terrible chest pain。。。 So I am very interested in anything related to covid or viruses。Unfortunately， this book is mostly about the history of viral pandemics and vaccines。 The information about covid is very sparse and it was written early in the summer， so it's not really even very accurate。 I've read news articles that give a much more thorough explanation of how covid works in the body。 The latter half of the book is all about vaccine history and how the new vaccines for covid will likely to be made with new technology like RNA vaccines。 They cover a little bit about how we ultimately killed and sickened people sometimes with bad vaccine technology， but these are given a sentence or half of one at best and then move on to how they will save us， especially since these ones use brand new technology that's never been used before so it will be much safer（？）。 The last pages tell of their 6 steps that they say we need to prepare for all the pandemics to come， which include things like monitoring everybody （acknowledging that it will be difficult to protect personal freedoms）， investing massive amounts of money in tests， vaccines and technology （they propose that we could save the economy by the government and businesses spending billions and employing people here）， and philanthropic donations of massive sums by organizations and the rich。 We'll see how well anybody really follows that。This is a fine book if you don't really know anything about vaccine history and the inner workings of viruses and you just want to learn their history， but it is completely devoid of anything about how to best support your body in the time of a pandemic if you don't have a vaccine。 I firmly believe that the many things I did every day to pull myself back to health saved me （even my doctor， when I finally got to see her months later， told me "Keep doing exactly what you've been doing"）。 Whenever I stopped the regimen， I quickly got sicker again， and it was all things that I could find in my home and environment （granted， I am a forager and herbalist so I probably have a bigger stash than most of things like elderberries and had a husband who was able to easily find me things like stinging nettles， but many things like fresh garlic and ginger are pretty easy for anyone to find）， and things I could do myself like breathing exercises， drinking tons of water， getting enough sleep every night no matter what， meditation （yes， it really helps， especially things like blood pressure）， sleeping prone when my lungs were struggling， etc。Ultimately， this book was a two for me -- just okay。 Side note: One of the resources that was the most helpful to me when it was finally released was an entire book-length document that respected author and herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner （author of Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria and Herbal Antivirals: Natural Remedies for Emerging & Resistant Viral Infections） released on his website。 It is over 100 pages， references the very latest scientific research on covid， and he released it free for the public。 https://www。stephenharrodbuhner。com/w。。。 He specifically talks about how this virus works and how it is different from most viruses， and gives advice for managing every one of the dozens of symptoms that it can manifest。 I received a digital ARC of this book for review。 。。。more
Philip
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Clear， informative， filled both with fascinating historical detail and the absolutely latest news right up to date of publication。 An outstanding summary by highly regarded scientists。
Pradeep
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