As we approach the end of this millennium, enteric diseases remain
impor- tant public health problems. In many parts of the world, sanitary
measures have advanced little over the last century, although some of
the governments in those areas are striving to improve facilities for
sanitation and to educate their people in proper handling of food,
water, sewage, and other modes of transmission of pathogenic microbes.
Even in highly developed countries, outbreaks of diarrheal diseases
occur today. Globally, the annual morbidity from enteric infections is
estimated at several billion and deaths at several million per year. In
this volume, descriptions of some of these diseases, of immunity that
results from them, of clinical studies that promote under- standing of
individual and community immunity, of molecular factors of pathogenesis,
and/or of advances in vaccine development have been pro- vided by
leading researchers. At present, the application of molecular methods is
enhancing the identification of protective antigens of many
microorganisms. In addition, new methods for design and delivery of vac-
cines are being devised. Perhaps then more effective tools for reducing
at least some of these diseases will be available within the next
decade. Lois J. Paradise Herman Friedman Mauro Bendinelli vii Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv LOIS J. PARADISE 1. Indigenous
Microorganisms as a Host Defense 1 KENNETH H. WILSON 1. Introduction . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 1 2. Composition of Intestinal Biota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 2 3. Molecular Approaches to Determine Composition of
the Biota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4. Role of the Host in Determining the
Composition of the Biota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
