Immunology of Medicine in the Tropics

Abstract

Immunology of Medicine in the Tropics by Greenwood and Whittle represents an interesting contribution which seeks to approach two audiences—clinicians to be introduced to immunology, and immunologists to be introduced to opportunities to apply their discipline to the study of tropical diseases. It is an attempt to entice the reader to an immunological approach toward diseases in the tropics.Faced with the tremendous size of this task, considering the diversity of tropical disease, the authors have recognized that a comprehensive review of the immunology of infectious disease and malnutrition is beyond the scope of this relatively short (306-page) monograph. The authors “assume that the reader has some knowledge of immunology,” and have had to be “very selective in the topics that we had discussed.” As such, this book does indeed provide a wide pot-pourri of information which would be of interest to both clinicians and immunologists.The sections on immunologic changes in “healthy” individuals living in the tropics and the effects of nutrition on infection and immunity are especially effectively presented.