Excerpt

Polymicrobial Diseases is a collection of chapters from investigators researching a variety of diseases with multiple etiologies. These diseases can be categorized as those originating from polyviral infections, polybacterial infections, viral and bacterial infections, and polymicrobial mycotic infections, and those that result in immunosuppression. The book begins with a section on an integrated view of polymicrobial diseases in animals and humans, including a representative list of these diseases, the etiologic agents, and the underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis (chapter 1). Also included in this section is a chapter on the in vitro methods for the study of polymicrobial diseases (chapter 2). Section II contains information on polyviral infections in animals (chapter 3), infections with multiple hepatotropic viruses (chapter 4), multiple retroviral infections (chapter 5), and viruses associated with multiple sclerosis (chapter 6). Section III discusses polybacterial infections, including bacterial vaginosis (chapter 7), periodontal disease (chapter 8), abscesses (chapter 9), and atrophic rhinitis in swine (chapter 10). Section IV comprises polymicrobial diseases involving viruses and bacteria. These are infections seen in respiratory diseases in humans (chapter 11) and animals (chapters 12 and 13), otitis media (chapter 14), and intestinal disorders (chapter 15). The emerging role of viruses in periodontal disease is also discussed (chapter 16). Section V discusses polymicrobial infections involving fungi (chapter 17) and Candida interactions with bacterial biofilms (chapter 18). Section VI focuses on polymicrobial diseases that result from microbe-induced immunosuppression (chapter 19), which often allows other microbes to become established (chapter 20). In conclusion, section VII summarizes the state of polymicrobial infections in animals and humans (chapter 21).