Rating: 
Summary: Tremendously well written, gets the point across
Review: This immense book is one I'm now reading for the fourth time, cover to cover. Ms. Garrett presents some complex ideas about virology, microbes, and the science of disease investigation - but presents it in a reader-friendly way. Her audience is exposed to what we see today with SARS, when we wonder what, exactly, the CDC and WHO are doing out there. It describes them nearly in the terms of an NTSB go-team, which is a concept most aren't aware of.Beyond the factual interest in diseases, Ms. Garrett also delves - quite successfully - into the policy arena. She points out, better than anyone else I've read so far, how things we think don't matter to us in fact really do. If you've ever skimmed through the world section of your news, thinking ah, what do I care, some third world people are diseased. In this age of travel, urbanization, and other very simple things - it DOES potentially affect you. There is a trickle down effect that is amazing to watch unfold, and Ms. Garrett does a wonderful job of taking readers, step by step, from one epidemic to another, until it dawns on the reader - this doesn't end the way we want it to. I'd call it recommended reading for anyone interested in the subjects addressed, in foreign policy, in getting a better grasp of our world...in short, for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrorism for your immune system
Review: This is a nonfiction work that reads like a Crichton novel. Indeed, if you've read "Andromeda Strain," this would be a good follow up. And it's probably scarier than Crichton too. Laurie Garrett tells the tale of microbes that get out of control and harm and kill humans. These viruses and bacteria caused the diseases that make life so miserable for people way back in history, though we in the United States today tend not to think much of disease thanks to the science, technology, and sanitation that have left us free to die of cancer and heart disease rather than malaria or bubonic plague. But there are still billions of people in areas of the world where they are vulnerable to debilitating or fatal infectious diseases, and even we in the industrialized world should be aware of the outbreaks that occur elsewhere. The quick spread of SARS across countries shows how, in the age of globalization, disease is not just a local, or third world, phenomenon. Garrett won't teach you too much about the ins and outs of epidemiology. For that, a textbook would be more appropriate. Her book is more about the people who research and study these diseases and the politics of infectious disease. She is constantly focusing on what is wrong with the systems we have in place and why we need changes. She often repeats the term "iatrogenic" referring to illnesses caused by medical procedures, doctors, hospitals, etc. Our negligence of systematic flaws is dangerous. You will come away from this book better informed, and with a tremendous amount of appreciation for those who serve public health on the front lines. They are a largely unacknowledged army, equipped not with guns, but with years of training, medical knowledge, and a will to to heal the sufferings of many unfortunate people.
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