Am J Epidemiol 2002; 156:393-394.
Copyright © 2002 by the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
BOOK REVIEWS |
British Medical Bulletin Volume 58 2001: The Changing Face of HIV and AIDS
San Francisco Department of Public Health San Francisco, CA 94102
Edited by Robin Weiss, Michael Adler, and Sarah L. Rowland-Jones
ISBN 0-19-922486-2, Oxford University Press, Oxford OX2 6DP, United Kingdom (Telephone: 44-(0)-1865-267907, Fax: 44-(0)-1865-267485, E-mail: jnl.orders{at}oup.co.uk), 2001, 223 pp., £40.00
The British Medical Bulletin Volume 58 2001: The Changing Face of HIV and AIDS (1) offers a concise series of review articles on a broad array of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related topics. The subjects covered in this book include virology, pathogenesis, treatment, prevention, and progress toward a prophylactic vaccine, to name a few. Although this book only briefly discusses the epidemiology of HIV and acquired immunodeficiency virus (AIDS), HIV/AIDS epidemiologists will also find it interesting because it provides background on a vast array of other issues related to HIV/AIDS. Given the wide range of topics covered, anyone with an interest in HIV/AIDS is bound to find many aspects of this book appealing.
The editors of the British Medical Bulletin Volume 58 2001: The Changing Face of HIV and AIDS selected 12 discrete topics plus a nicely laid out preface and introduction to include in their book. Selecting a limited number of subjects to address is difficult given the many facets of HIV and AIDS. The inclusion of so many distinct disciplines naturally results in only a cursory overview of each topic. Overall, the editors did well in their selection of topics and authors for each article. Each of the articles is well written and instructive and is able to stand alone. This last point may be why some of the articles did not easily transition to the next. For example, presenting information on HIV pathogenesis prior to HIV-1 receptors and tropism would give the reader more background with which to understand receptors. Similarly, although prophylactic vaccines are a prevention intervention, the mechanism of their action fit better with virology and, therefore, might be better placed earlier in the book. In addition, the editors could have been more diligent in eliminating redundancies. For example, much of the information included in the article on acute HIV infection is also covered in the section on HIV-1 pathogenesis.
Readers may wish to know that many of the reviews focused predominantly on HIV in nonindustrialized countries. The article on demography and economics presents data only from Africa, for example. It included an extremely interesting discussion and one not usually associated with scientific reviews. Its inclusion is a positive addition to the book. However, a similar discussion of economic issues in industrialized countries, where clearly the health and medical costs coupled with loss of job productivity from morbidity and mortality have a substantial impact, would have also been interesting. Similarly, the summary of sexually transmitted disease treatment interventions to prevent HIV infections focused exclusively on treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in nonindustrialized countries, when this strategy is used in developed countries as well. Although expanding these discussions to include developed countries would have been appreciated, this does not detract substantially from the discussion presented.
As with any series of review articles, including recent data is difficult. None of the articles mentioned the use of the Serologic Testing Algorithm for Recent HIV Seroconversion (STARHS) in which a less sensitive HIV antibody test is used to retest HIV-positive specimens (2). Specimens that are negative on the less sensitive test reflect HIV seroconversion in the past 4–6 months. This strategy provides a new and important method to estimate HIV incidence with the use of specimens obtained from cross-sectional studies. A brief discussion of STARHS would have added to the discussion of primary HIV infection.
The review of behavioral interventions to prevent HIV infection provided a strong background into the theoretical bases for behavioral interventions and included an important discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the various research strategies. Given the lack of a strong prophylactic vaccine candidate, behavioral interventions remain the best option for curbing the HIV epidemic. Following this article with a review of several successful intervention strategies in both industrialized and nonindustrialized countries would have added to the depth of the book.
In conclusion, the British Medical Bulletin Volume 58 2001: The Changing Face of HIV and AIDS provides a concise summary of many important topics in the scientific field of HIV and AIDS. Each article is designed to provide a concise and thoughtful introduction to its topic and provides an informative and accessible way of gaining additional information in those areas in which one is not the expert.
REFERENCES
- Weiss R, Adler M, Rowland-Jones SL, eds. British Medical Bulletin volume 58 2001: the changing face of HIV and AIDS. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Janssen RS, Satten GA, Stramer SL, et al. New testing strategy to detect early HIV-1 infection for use in incidence estimates and for clinical and prevention purposes. JAMA 1998;280:42–8.
[Abstract/Free Full Text]
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||