Viruses Vs. Superbugs
A Solution to the Antibiotics Crisis?
by Thomas Häusler
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Downloadable author pictures
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Reviews
"Valuable reading, both for specialists and for interested general readers." JAMA
“A page turner, full of human drama and the race for discovery.” Idaho Statesman
“A thoroughly scholarly account, in a highly entertaining narrative form. A compelling read, populated with fascinating characters.” Micro Today
“All the ingredients of a John Le Carré spy novel: fascinating.” EMBO Reports
“A salient and thought provoking take on society's attitudes toward disease and medicine.” www.scienceagogo.com
“FOUR STARS: A good book — excellent use of the stories of real people involved in the fight against bacteria.” www.popularscience.co.uk
“Unusually well-researched, outstandingly well-written. This book deserves to be on the shelf of every private and public library.” Epoch Times
'This book is scientific journalism at its best. Häusler shares with us the fascinating fruits of a remarkable year-long odyssey in time and space, during which he explored the depths of archives old and new from the Pasteur Institute to NIH to Los Angeles hospitals to Tbilisi to German companies, digging out long-lost records of far more work (and success) with phage therapy than anyone knew existed. His thoughtful interviews and strong, ongoing scholarship bring to life the work of Felix d'Herelle and his scientific descendents in tantalizing and accessible fashion and give strong reason to believe that phages can, indeed, be a powerful aid in dealing with the pressing antibiotic crisis.' - Professor Elizabeth Kutter, Evergreen State College, Olympia, USA
'Thomas Häusler paints a vivid and engaging picture of the larger-than-life characters who committed themselves to the development of phage therapy. The science is there - in easily understandable language - but so are Stalin's purges and the Second World War. Horror stories about pus-discharging wounds bring the reader down to earth regularly as well. Bacteriophage therapy has not yet taken off - but promise is there. This authoritative book explains why.' - Professor T. Hugh Pennington, president of the British Society for General Microbiology
'This book, documented with rare photographs and abundant references, is scientific journalism at its best and a fascinating contribution to the history of medicine. Phages are now produced by a number of companies and appear, provided that they are used by responsible and knowledgeable practitioners, to be a promising alternative to antibiotics.' - Professor Hans-Wolfgang Ackermann, Laval University, Canada
'The reader will put down this page-turner inspired, hopeful, and utterly convinced of phage therapy's imminence and inevitability. An indispensable primer for everyone concerned with the onset of the post-antibiotic age.' - Asher Wilf, CEO, Phage-Biotech
Praise for the German edition
'an exceptionally thorough book, extraordinarily well written and scientifically authoritative. A book about an explosive subject, that could not have been done better.' Spektrum der Wissenschaften, the German Scientific American
'Thomas Häusler's gripping book traces the story of the rise, the fall and the possible renaissance of bacteriophages as drugs.' Basler Zeitung
'The Swiss science journalist Thomas Häusler has written an extremely compelling popular science book.' Laborjournal
'Häusler tells a forgotten chapter of the history of medicine that ends in the present with a surprising comeback. Riveting.' Schweizerische Ärztezeitung
Description
Each year thousands of people die from bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
Alternatives drugs are urgently needed. A surprising ray of hope is actually
a blast from the past. Viruses that kill bacteria, but not us, called
'phages' for short, were discovered around 1915, when infections were
still a major cause of illness and death. Phage therapy became popular
from the 1920s until the introduction of penicillin 20 years later. Only
in the countries of the Eastern block did the therapy survive and thrive.
Now western researchers and companies are working on its comeback.
This book tells the fascinating story of the discoverers of phages in
the west and the Soviet Union. Award-winning science journalist Thomas
Häusler follows the trail of one pioneer killed by Stalin's secret
service, and his successors in today's war-torn Georgia, accompanying
patients taking phages because standard drugs fail them and investigates
how these long-forgotten cures may help sick people today.
Author Biographies
THOMAS HÄUSLER is Chief Science
Editor of the Swiss news magazine, Facts. He has won several awards for
his journalistic work, including one for an article about phage therapy
in the world-renowned German weekly Die Zeit. For more information see
www.bacteriophagetherapy.info