Viruses

[kz_blogorambling]

This weekend they had some guy on public radio talking about viruses like the Corona virus and flu viruses. He wasn't even an expert, and kept apologizing for that. Yet it was FASCINATING. Now I understand how people can spend their whole lives studying viruses, and how they can respect them and consider them such worthy adversaries.

They are fascinating little buggers. Is there a good book out there?

Comments

[bristlesage.livejournal.com]

As somebody who wants to grow up and do disease history, I'm going to recommend a couple of disease history books, in my totally non-expert capacity:

Flu, by Gina Kolata, which is mostly about the 1916 pandemic.

Microbe Hunters, by Paul de Kruif. Details early work in the field of virology. Written for laypeople over 70 years ago. Still great.

And yes. Virology is incredibly interesting. I like the polio stories best.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Don't you mean the 1918 Spanish Flu re: Gina Kolata's book?

[bristlesage.livejournal.com]

Yep, I do. 1918 pandemic; sorry for the typo.

[sadillac.livejournal.com]

The Hot Zone is a pretty good read, too.

[ex-kinsey474.livejournal.com]

Yep, The Hot Zone, that's what I was going to recommend. It's even scarier when you live downwind (so to speak) of Fort Detrick.

[sueduhnym.livejournal.com]

I concur. It's also pretty interesting in that it details what the CDC and the Army version (USAMRIID maybe?) do when faced with it and what their labs are like. Cool beans.

[setongirl1983.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that book yet. Not sure if I want to - my husband is now working at Ft. Detrick! Not with viruses or anything, but still.