Puswhisperer: A Year in the Life of an Infectious Disease Doctor

by Mark Crislip

H1N1. Staph aureus. Traveler’s diarrhea. All examples of human interaction with the microbial world, which counts viruses, bacteria, and parasites too numerous to mention. Infectious Disease doctor Mark Crislip has a strange relationship with this world—he spends most of his time trying to kill it, even as he appreciates the vital role microorganisms play in the Earth’s ecosystems. Puswhisperer is a collection of infectious disease anecdotes created from a year’s worth of clinical blog posts from the Medscape blog Rubor, Dolor, Calor, Tumor. Originally intended for residents and fellows, the posts have been compiled, edited, and revised for a non-specialist audience. The tales cover a wide range of diagnostic dilemmas and treatment quandaries. Which infection smells like buttered popcorn? Are some antibiotics “stronger” than others? Is it OK to eat the oysters? Along with clinical insight, the book provides a good dose of humor and insightful, microbe-centered philosophy. The author speculates on what the Earth might look like in five billion years, when animals and plants are gone, but bacteria remain. He also draws attention to the staggering rate of evolution in bacteria, made possible by short generation times and passing of genetic material from one bug to another. Finding a 60-year-old Staph strain in an old wound, Crislip tells us, is like looking out your window and seeing a Neanderthal shuffle by. Recommended for anyone interested in infectious disease and the microorganisms that run our planet.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Medicine, Memoir, Medical

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 25, 2010

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love me some Mark Crislip. There are a number of typos in the ebook but nothing that took away from the stores for me. Looking forward to volume 2!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this book a GREAT deal more if the e-version had been edited ... at all! There were egregious typos and grammar errors that made, occasionally, for absolutely incomprehensible sentences. I also wish that my Kindle had a glossary for many of his acronyms and medical terms. It mostly was silent. That said...

Over the past year I've been enjoying reading a variety of medical books for the layperson, and this one was a half-way nod toward civilians. Dr. Crislip also is writing for residents and interns, so some of his posts - and this is a series of short mostly daily reports in the life of a busy infectious disease physician - are pretty technical and beyond the ken of us non-medicos. I still got a lot out of his remarks. I know more about endocarditis (vegetation on the heart!), pseudomonas and why it isn't a good idea to get too cozy with domestic animals. My dad was sure right about that....

[Nicholas Decker · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of peals buried in the entire book. Some entries were aggravating - like the ones where there's a long, drawn out detailed account of the patient's symptoms, then it ends with patient getting better on their own and nobody knows what it was or how they should have dealt with it. I understand that happens in real life, but what a waste of time to read. With several entries like that, and repeated redundancy about his dislike of dogs, propositions in Las Vegas, etc. it's fairly evident that there either wasn't an editor or they fell asleep on the job and didn't cull anything.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book thrown together from a year of blog posts by an Infectious disease doctor in the north west. I is funny and informative but where is the editor. Spelling and grammar are horrible. I liked the fact that it has links to research pages and occasionally humorous odds and ends. Read if you enjoy medical case studies.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to get through this one. It's a series of well-written articles that apparently the author, Crislip, writes for Medscape (now). He's an infectious disease doctor who is super opinionated, and very wry sense of humor. I came on these by accident, when I was looking into books on microbiology, which I'm teaching to nurses. His articles are most often on his cases, and diagnosing infectious disease, why people get sick from these diseases, and a few diatribes against stupidity which I loved.

For anyone who wants to read interesting articles about microbiology/epidemiology and learn something, this definitely was the way to go. I have seen he's written more since then, and I'd really like to read what he's written since then. I love his sense of humor, and I agree with a lot about what he says concerning people not getting vaccinated. As we are currently seeing with outbreaks of whooping cough and measles, the people not getting the vaccines are putting a lot of other people, including infants at risk.

[Kelly Bigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a student studying to be in the medical field as well as a lover of all things weird, gross and nerdy, I loved reading this collection of blog postings.
If you know a lot about Infection Control then you will love this because you will understand the significance of all the various diseases.
As someone who doesn't know very much about infectious disease, I was still able to understand much of what Dr. Crislip was saying and I enjoyed reading about various cases and the people involved.
Crislip delivered important and interesting information in humorous ways. While some of the jokes were repeated a lot, I still enjoyed them and they flowed with his writing style.
Overall, an interesting read.

[Trixie Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ONLY reason this book doesn't get five stars is that in the version I read (Kindle ebook), there were enough grammar and spelling errors to detract from my ability to enjoy what I was reading at times (honestly, I started to use my Kindle's note-taking and highlighting features to edit the thing, like a high school English teacher with a red pen).
However, if you're not an anal-retentive obsessive word nerd like myself, you'll probably love this book to death.
Literally, to death. Because EVERYTHING in this book can kill you, including the humor.
Buy it, rent it, borrow it. Just read it. It's amazing.

[Desiree Pritchard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can definately tell that this book has not been edited. I found about 8 typos and realizing that this book came from blogs, it lacked fluidity. I think that this would be much better if it flowed better from one chapter to the next. I am also curious as to whom this book is intended. If it is meant for those in the medical field, I feel that the content is appropriate. This is what I am guessing as it began as a blog, therefore, those with medical interest would probably find it the most facinating... thus, following it. On the other hand, if this is meant for the population at large, I think that some of the studies used may be a little much to decipher.

[Diane Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Crislip's blog posts, and this book is a compilation of a year's worth. Doesn't translate well as things that are okay in a daily blog are not quite okay in book format: all the typos, for example or the same joke repeated multiple times.
Still and all, there is a lot of fascinating information in here for the health care worker and I bookmarked multiple pages, something I never do otherwise.

[Lady Brainsample · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned at 15%.
Well, I've discovered that one of my worst pet peeves is blog authors who do almost NOTHING to turn their blog into a book.
This book will be interesting for people who already have a moderate/advanced knowledge of the subject matter, but not for the layperson like me who was hoping to at least get an intro and some fundamentals before being tossed into the world of difficult-to-pronounce infectious diseases.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of blog posts, so I think the tome could use an editor to bring the narrative together and eliminate typo's. Content wise, I thought it was a great, occasionally quite funny look into a day in the life of a ID doc. Loved that the entries are linked to various studies according to references.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a MD, but am immensely fascinated with any type of infectious disease (parasites, virus, bacteria, etc.). Dr. Crislip is an amazing author and MD. I wish I could go back in time, change my major at University, and study with Dr. Crislip. Brilliant man. Brilliant author. Pretty damn funny too!

If you read this Dr. Crislip, you have a new admirer. :)

[Carrie Bottoms · Rating 4 out of 5]

in terms of interest, this book was at the top of the bunch. However, the typos, grammatical errors, words left out, etc made the reading extremely difficult. if this hadn't been on my Kindle, the book would have been marked up with corrections!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was fun, and the price was right ($0.99)! Just the right sort of collection of snippets to read on the train or bus while Melbourne's commuting classes cough and snuffle around you. Note to self: not the right sort of thing to read aloud to the hypochondriac in your life.

[Martha Stroud-Merry · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it, not his humor which is lame, but the case studies are so interesting...learned so things as well.

[Marna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I won't pretend that I understood all of it (and there was a LOT of it)....a fair number of acronyms.

[Terry Southard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Too over my head with the medicine. He really writes for doctors, not laypeople. I knew that going in, so I got what I could, left the rest.

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating glimpses into consultations by a practicing infectious disease doctor.