Includes index.

Virology : how it all began -- General properties of viruses -- Viral replication and genetics -- How viruses cause disease -- Resistance to virus infections -- Viruses and cancer in humans -- Viruses and the community -- Upper respiratory tract and eye infections due to adenoviruses, coronaviruses (including SARS CoV), and rhinoviruses -- Childhood infections caused by paramyxoviruses -- Orthomyxoviruses and influenza -- Gastroenteritis viruses -- Rubella : postnatal infections -- Parvoviruses -- Poxviruses -- Papovaviruses -- Poliomyelitis and other picornavirus infections -- The herpesviruses : general properties -- The alphaherpesviruses : herpes simplex and varicella-zoster -- The betaherpesviruses : cytomegalovirus and human herpesviruses 6 and 7 -- The gammaherpesviruses : Epstein-barr virus and Kaposl's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus -- Introduction to the hepatitis viruses -- The blood-borne hepatitis viruses B and delta -- The enteric hepatitis viruses A and E -- The blood-borne hepatitis flaviviruses -- Retroviruses and AIDS -- Lyssavirus and rabies -- Arthropod-borne viruses -- Exotic and dangerous infections : filoviruses, arenaviruses, and hantaviruses -- Prions and the spongiform encephalopathies -- Viral diseases of the central nervous system -- Intrauterine and perinatal infections -- Viral infections in patients with defective immunity -- Respiratory infections -- Sexually transmitted viral infections -- Resurgent and emergent viral infections -- The laboratory diagnosis of viral infections -- Control of viral diseases by immunization -- Antiviral chemotherapy.