PREFACE TO THE FOURTEENTH EDITION

The Control of CommunicableDiseases in Man was first published by the

American Public Health Association in i917 to present the essential facts

needed to control communicable diseases of man. The periodic revisions.

this the fourteenth, assure that the information and recommended

practices remain abreast of the advances in our knowledge of the

communicable diseases and of the changes in socioeconomic conditions.

The book is intended to provide a ready source of informanon on how to

recognizea specific disease, how to manage the patients so that the disease

does not spread, and to provide guidance for treatment to preserve life and

limit the spread of infection. It is not intended to replace more inclusive

textbooks but to be a source of basic information on which initial action

can be taken.

The events in the interval since the last edition was published bear

evidence that the problems presented by communicable diseases have not

been solved. The emergence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and

of its various disease manifestations has reemphasized the need for

competence in the communicable disease area and the need for maintain-

ing surveillance of disease occurrence. To make the issue more compli-

cated the emerging relationship between neoplasia and specific etiological

agents broadens the scope of communicable disease, and. more impor-

tantly, gives hope to preventing malignancies by applying infectious

disease principles, e.g., hepatocellular carcinoma prevented by immumza-

tion against hepatitis B.

Questions may be raised about the amountof space devoted to the

presentationof rare and exotic diseases. This is deliberate. Physicians in

developed areas are familiar with the diseases which occur in their areas.

but they have had no personal contact and usually little information about

the diseases occurring in remote areas to which their patients are exposed

in their increasing international travel: the jet plane assures their return

within the incubation period of all infectious diseases. The inclusion of

smallpox, even though it has been eradicated globally, is considered

necessary; should smallpox appear again through some mischance, it is

essential that there be a readily available source of information for rapid

recognition and appropriate immediate action. Sources of information on

these diseases may not be readily available: this book attempts to fill some

of the void.

This manual considers communicable diseases globally: While ,r is a

publication of the American Public Health Association. the presentation

alms to be international. Toward this end. the numbers assigned for each

disease by the World Health Organization International Classification of

Disease. 9th Revision. Clinical Modification ICD-9 CM) have been used:

the disease nomenclatures recommended by the Council for International