Infectious Disease and Bioterrorism

Abstract

In the current political and social environment, patient safety and safety in general have become issues of grave concern. Although much attention has been focused on medication issues and errors, new and constantly evolving infectious agents put both patients and anesthesiologists at risk from external forces, in addition to the risk posted by iatrogenic causes. It is therefore very appropriate to devote an issue of the Anesthesiology Clinics of North America to this constantly evolving field, looking at it from multiple perspectives. We are very fortunate to have two distinguished authors from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) as Guest Editors for this issue. Samuel C. Hughes, MD, is Professor of Clinical Anesthesia at UCSF and has held numerous positions at the University related to the care and management of patients who have AIDS and emerging infections. Dr. Hughes has lectured extensively on the subject of risk of infection and transmission of infectious diseases. James B. Marks, MD, PhD, is Professor of Anesthesia and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and is a member of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF. He has completed residencies in internal medicine, anesthesia, and holds a fellowship in critical care medicine. Dr. MarksT research is in the area of antibody engineering, which is used to dissect the molecular basis of infectious diseases and cancer and to develop novel antibody-based therapeutic approaches to disease. He has also served on numerous neurotoxin expert and diagnostic panels and national and international panels related to bioterrorism. Based on Anesthesiology Clin N Am