No Germs Allowed!: How to Avoid Infectious Diseases at Home and on the Road

541 Pages·1996·2.29 MB·English

by  Winkler G. Weinberg

No Germs Allowed! : How to Avoid
title: Infectious Diseases At Home and On the
Road
author: Weinberg, Winkler G.
publisher: Rutgers University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0813522811
print isbn13: 9780813522814
ebook isbn13: 9780585029269
language: English
Travel--Health aspects, Communicable
subject
diseases--Prevention, Infection.
publication date: 1996
lcc: RA783.5.W44 1996eb
ddc: 616.9/045
Travel--Health aspects, Communicable
subject:
diseases--Prevention, Infection.
Page iv
No germs allowed!
How to avoid infectious diseases at home and on the road
Winkler G. Weinberg, MD
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Page v
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weinberg, Winkler G., 1952
No germs allowed! : how to avoid infectious diseases at home and on
the road / by Winkler G. Weinberg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8135-2280-3 (cloth : alk. paper). ISBN 0-8135-2281-1
(pbk.: alk. paper)
1. TravelHealth aspects. 2. Communicable diseasesPrevention.
3. Infection. I. Title.
RA783.5.W44 1996
616.9'045dc20 95-43235
CIP
British Cataloging-in-Publication information available
Copyright © 1996 by Winkler G. Weinberg, M.D.
All rights reserved.
Published by Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Page vi
To my talented, dedicated, and loving wife, Lynn
Page vii
Contents
Tables and figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: At Risk 1
One The infections of daily living
1 The common cold 11
2 Strep throat and other strep infections 16
3 Urinary tract infections 27
4 Infections of the skin 32
Two Infections you get from your environment
5 Lyme disease and other tickborne infections 45
6 Food poisoning 57
7 Health hazards of travel 78
8 Pneumonia and Legionnaires' disease 107
Three Infections you get from others
9 Tuberculosis 125
10 Sexually transmitted diseases 139
11 Hepatitis 153
12 HIV infection and AIDS 164
Four Persons with unique risks
13 Special persons and special situations 183
14 How to avoid infections if you have HIV 202
15 If you are pregnant 226
16 In the hospital 245
Appendixes
A Vaccination schedules 255
B Antibiotics to prevent infective endocarditis 263
C Rabies 264
Bibliography 265
Index 277
Page ix
Tables and figures
Tables
3.1 What a woman can do to prevent urinary tract 31
infections
5.1 Where Lyme disease is found 49
6.1 Causes of food poisoning from animal sources 63
6.2 Rules for preventing foodborne diseases from meat, 67
dairy, poultry, and eggs
6.3 Protecting yourself from tainted fish 69
6.4 Infections and intoxications from shellfish 71
6.5 Safer seafood 72
6.6 Secure salads 76
7.1 Cardinal rules for eating abroad 79
7.2 Symptoms of malaria 90
7.3 Drugs used to prevent malaria: precautions 92
7.4 Contents of an infection protection travel kit 97
7.5 Preventive medicines and vaccines for travelers 105
8.1 Conditions that can predispose you to pneumonia 110
8.2 Side effects of influenza vaccine 113
9.1 Medical conditions that increase the risk of TB 131
9.2 Groups at high risk for TB 132
9.3 Preventive use of INH against TB 136
10.1 Universal guidelines for preventing sexually 144
transmitted diseases
10.2 Tests to verify presence of sexually transmitted 152
diseases after exposure
11.1 Salient features of hepatitis 154
11.2 Rules for preventing hepatitis 155
11.3 Adults who should receive hepatitis B vaccine 161
12.1 The average course of HIV infection 165
13.1 Infections more common in people with diabetes 187
Page x
13.2 Early signs of infection when your white blood cell 191
count is low
13.3 When to take antibiotics to prevent endocarditis 201
14.1 How to use the CD4 count 204
14.2 Opportunistic infections that cause diarrhea 211
14.3 Precautions against TB for people with HIV 222
14.4 Things to take to prevent opportunistic infections 224
14.5 Things to do to prevent opportunistic infections 225
15.1 Basic rules for the expectant mother 228
15.2 Getting tested during pregnancy 243
16.1 The costs and risks of hospital-acquired infections 246
16.2 Risk of infection after blood transfusion 252
Figures
1.1 Spreading a cold by touching 13
1.2 Spreading a cold by sneezing 14
5.1 The life cycle of the Lyme disease agent 47
5.2 Germ-carrying ticks 54
6.1 The temperature danger zone for foods 65
7.1 Malaria in the world 89
7.2 Yellow fever in the world 93
7.3 Hepatitis B in the world 102