Full Description
Lyssaviruses are the etiological agents of rabies, one of the oldest documented and feared maladies in medical history. The last century has been particularly fruitful in regard to progress in Iyssavirus phylogenetic affinities, diagnostics, pathogenesis, molecular virology and epidemiology, pro- phylaxis and control. Yet, despite these academic and practical advances in research, the age-old horror evoked by rabies is still very real, with only four documented human recoveries once symptoms are realized. After decades of intense scrutiny and four recent books describing rabies and its viral relatives, there is still much to be learned. The great authority on rabies, Karl Habel, once related an incident of a very distraught elderly woman, who showed symptoms of neurological disease. She told Habel, "I don't need a physician. I know I have rabies. My beloved dog had rabies and died. Look", she exclaimed, while flinging down a goblet of water, "I have hydrophobia". Habel asked for her confinement for psychiatric examination.
Contents
List of Contents.- Rationale and Prospects for Rabies Elimination in Developing Countries.- Functional Aspects of Lyssavirus Proteins.- Reproduction of Lyssaviruses: Ultrastructural Composition of Lyssavirus and Functional Aspects of Pathogenesis.- The Molecular Basis for Altered Pathogenicity of Lyssavirus Variants.- Animal Models of Rabies Virus Neurovirulence.- The Pathogenesis of Rabies and Other Lyssaviral Infections: Recent Studies.- Human Rabies: Clinical Aspects, Pathogenesis, and Potential Therapy.- Immunobiology of Lyssaviruses: The Basis for Immunoprotection.- Immunoprotection by Rabies Virus Nucleoprotein.- Current and Future Immunoprophylaxis Against Human Rabies: Reduction of Treatment Failures and Errors.- Production of Human Monoclonal Antibodies Against Rabies Virus.- Bat Lyssaviruses in Europe.- Oral Wildlife Rabies Vaccination Field Trials in Europe, with Recent Emphasis on France.- Oral Rabies Immunization of Wildlife and Dogs: Challenges to the Americas.- The Biology of Southern African Lyssavirus Variants.- Rabies Epidemiology: Some Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives.- Beyond Pasteur to 2001: Future Trends in Lyssavirus Research?.
