Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
The Coming Plague Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
Author: Laurie Garrett
ISBN-13: 9780374126469
ISBN-10: 0374126461
Publication Date: 10/1994
Pages: 750
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 14

4.1 stars, based on 14 ratings
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

5 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

tish avatar reviewed The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance on + 384 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
YIKES!!!! this is a long and heavy (both in book weight and weighty issues)
it might be a little dated now but i think it will stand the test of time.
Plagues and new diseases, i believe we may be living in the times she has described.
reviewed The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance on + 4 more book reviews
From the back cover:
"Unpurified drinking water. Improper use of antibiotics. Local warfare. Massive refugee migration. Changing social and environmental conditions around the world hae fostered the spread of new and potentially devastating viruses and diseases...."

Not for hypochondriacs.
reviewed The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance on + 149 more book reviews
I have read three books by this author and each one has been informative and a great read.
This book was a fairly intense read so read it when you have time to concentrate.
I do recommend the book to anyone who is interested in world issues as regards spread of infectious disease.
reviewed The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance on
Amazing. Scary. A page turner on par with the best King. More frightening because it is reality.
reviewed The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance on + 3563 more book reviews
Documenting the plausible threat of major new worldwide epidemics, as well as eruptions of recently discovered diseases, Garrett's gripping and frightening report sounds a wake-up call to the planet. Wars, sexual promiscuity, inept public-health efforts and development schemes that disrupt ecosystems are some of the factors she says contribute to the alarmingly rapid mutation of viruses, the pandemics sweeping through the animal world, and the spread of human diseases to new areas. Health and science writer for New York Newsday, Garrett discusses the tremendous increase in AIDS and HIV infection across Asia, outbreaks of the incredibly lethal Ebola virus in Africa, and the spread of diseases via human technologies (such as tampons contributing to toxic shock syndrome). Her first-rate investigation concludes with a call for a global early warning system to rapidly detect new diseases and drug-resistant strains.