Cowan and Steel's Manual for the Identification of Medical Bacteria

TLDR: This book is very definitely a must for anyone who calls him or herself a microbiologist, whether clinical, medical, or technological in persuasion.

Abstract: The publication of the third edition of "Cowan and Steel," almost 20 years after the last, is like the return of a very dear, old friend. The beauty is that despite everything that has happened, the friend is at heart just the same-the mission "to help those who have isolated a bacterium (from a "medical" source) and want to identify it". The book begins with five general chapters on classification and nomenclature; culture media (with Frau Hesse still in her rightful place); isolation techniques; characterisation; and identification. I found the relative dismissal of the antibiogram as an aid to identification unsubtle, and would have liked to have more on the perils of over-reliance on kits. I believe, however, that the warning to the medical microbiologists of the future that the "materials and methods (that) are simply to be taken from the refrigerator or shelf as kits" may be a fool's paradise is timely. The essence of the book for the DIY enthusiast is to be found in chapters 6 and 7 in which all the major medical bacteria are considered in the familiar series of first, second, and third stage tables. Of course they are longer than before; there are, for example, now 26 staphylococcal species compared with eight last time. It seemed to me that a potential inconsistency which the authors challenge us to find concerns motility in Enterococcus faecium. On page 26 it is implied that many strains of E faecium are motile. Table 6.3b has Efaecium non-motile (up to 15% possibly motile according to the key to the tables), but E casseliflavus and E gallinarum motile. On page 66 they refer to E faecium "with its five varieties". What are the facts please? The authors continue a tradition of not being afraid to be different. They have not really given up much in relation to Kiebsiella (the little essay on the genus is great fun) and hang on to Acinetobacter iwoffii. Tables 7.5 and 7.6 are masterpieces of active speciation, being not quite up to date. However, they could have been a little more daring with the old Bacteroides genus, and Mobiluncus dosen't fare well. Overall, however, most of the organisms that turn up in a medical laboratory find a home here, even if only among such taxonomic evasions as "A group of difficult organisms". The Appendices are far from incidental and contain a great deal of valuable information on media and stains, characterisation tests and test organisms (all useful ammunition in current European discussions on standardisation), and on information processing. There are three sections on the bacteriological law in relation to taxonomy, and finally a useful glossary. There are almost 50 pages of references. This book is very definitely a must for anyone who calls him or herself a microbiologist, whether clinical, medical, or technological in persuasion. IAN PHILLIPS Quality Management fo: Safety, Environmental Hes No. 141. IPCS. (Pp 112; Sw Health Organization. 1 92-4-157141-1