Sequal to the Coming Plague discusses how global public helath is failing the citizens of the planet. ( )

The book covers many contries, developed and undeveloped and documents the total breakdown in public health infrastructures and power in these countries. Anyone who watched congressional hearings after the anthrax scares following 9/11 and heard that many public health offices did not have computers would realize what a dangerous condition the US is in. The information about chances of infections in American hospitals makes one think twice about entering one if very sick and at risk. Alarmist, yes, and rightly so.
As one of the Librarything reviewers comments there is a lot of information here, many were interviewed, it is packed with detail and is not a leisurely read, but this makes it very good. Unfortunately little has probably changed in the past 10 years. ( )

A little alarmist but still a very good book. ( )

This book was clearly well researched (both on the ground and at the library) but it is in serious need of some editing. One example of this is the multitude of people interviewed and quoted throughout the book. We are introduced to many characters who are well described only to never hear about them again. This quickly grew annoying as it detracted from the general flow of the narrative. The sheer volume and scope of this work is both its greatest asset and its biggest drawback. Although I must confess, I could not force myself to read the Epilogue. After 500 or so pages of increasingly bitter comments and anti-Republican rhetoric, I felt I could not carry on for the Epilogue. Also, I felt that her main solutions were spend more money and vote Democratic and I had heard enough about both of these ideas in the preceding chapters. ( )

I really liked this book, goes through numerous public health scares that have occured across the world and extrapolates from these experiences to predictions about future health concerns. Makes me scared to go to the doctor and am really worried about hanging out at an ER. ( )