The major goal of Opportunistic Infections: Treatment and Prophylaxis is
to guide cli- cians who provide care for patients suffering from an
underlying immunodeficiency that may significantly weaken their immune
defenses and will complicate the effective treatment of opportunistic
infections. In spite of a wealth of isolated data, no single text exists
in which all the essential information about various infectious
opportunistic infections. Although I make no claim to completeness, it
is my hope that the present book will fulfill that need. To achieve this
goal, I have endeavored to integrate both results from large-scale
clinical trials and trials involving small numbers of patients, as well
as reports of single cases--mindful that such an approach has its
limitations. Opportunistic Infections: Treatment and Prophylaxis is
organized into four major parts: bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal
diseases affecting the immunocompromised population. Each part surveys
individual infections caused not only by well-known etiologic agents,
but also by new and emerging species often taxonomically closely related
to a major disea- producing microorganism and until recently not
considered to be human pathogens (Candida spp. and nontuberculous
mycobacteria, for example). For the sake of uniformity, within each
part, the species have been arranged according to their taxonomic
characteristics.
