The title of this book covers a vast spectrum of possibilities, so it is clear that not all of these are going to be covered in this slim volume, less than 200 pages in length. Indeed, although I had expected several shorter chapters covering a range of parasites, probably with emphasis on specific advances towards prevention and control via novel omics-related technologies, in fact only five parasites are addressed in detail; the first four chapters focus on Trypanosoma cruzi, two are concerned with Leishmania, and there is one chapter each on Naegleria fowleri, Entamoeba histolytica and Acanthamoeba. Treatment therapies and drug development approaches, with particular emphasis on omics methods and recent advances, are the main themes in many, but not all, of the chapters. For T. cruzi, for which current chemotherapy is restricted and not always efficacious, the fine chapter by Giselle Brunoro and colleagues from Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro that reviews how proteomic maps have identified promising targets for drug development gives hope that novel therapies may not be far away. However, an otherwise interesting chapter was, for me, marred by the ‘timeline of studies’ figure being almost unreadable. Not all chapters have such a specific focus; the chapter concerned with N. fowleri by Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui and Naveed Khan from Sunway University in Malaysia gives more of an overview of this parasite, covering its biology and the associated disease – primary amoebic meningoencephalitis – including pathogenesis, diagnosis and possible treatments, but does not delve deeply into any omics developments. Thus, while the parasites covered are few, the chapter scope is broad, leading one to wonder whether the editors had an overall plan that has not been fulfilled by authors, or whether there was no clear plan at all.
Indeed, the role of the editors in this book is not that clear to me, with the quality of the writing variable between chapters. An editorial comment in the preface, that amoebiasis is caused by ‘any of the amoebas in the Entamoeba group’ rather than by E. histolytica, as described in the chapter by Anjan Debnath and Sharon Reed from the University of California, makes one wonder if they have read all the chapters in detail.
Thus, given the restricted range of parasites covered – where is Plasmodium and where are Cryptosporidium or Toxoplasma? – along with the lack of cohesion in chapter goals and approaches, I would advise readers to check before purchasing this book that they are sure that it includes chapters that they will find of interest. Without doubt, for some readers this could be a really fascinating resource – but for others, it could easily miss the mark. I find it hard to envisage those in government (described as a target reader group on the back cover) who will find that it has been worth the investment of over US$300 (GBP 159).
