Public Health Microbiology: Methods and Protocols is focused on microorganisms that can present a hazard to human health in the course of everyday life. There are chapters dealing with organisms that are directly pathogenic to humans, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi; on organisms that produce toxins during growth in their natural habitats; on the use of bacteriocins produced by such organisms as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria; as well as several chapters on hazard analysis, the use of disinfectants, microbiological analysis of cosmetics, and microbiological tests for sanitation equipment in food factories. Additional chapters look at the use of animals (mice) in the study of the various characteristics of milk and their relationships with lactic acid bacteria in particular. Other chapters focus on special methods for determining particular components of milk. In particular, in Parts I and II, on bacterial and viral pathogens, special attention is given to methods for PCR detection of genes with resistance to tetracycline, as well as to Salmonella enterica; for identification and typing of Campylobacter coli; for detection of the abundance of enteric viruses, hepatitis A virus, and rotaviruses in sewage, and of bacteriophages infecting the O157:H7 strain of Escherichia coli. Part III offers methods for computerized analysis and typing of fungal isolates, for isolation and enumeration of fungi in foods, and for the determination of aflatoxin and zearalenone.

This interdisciplinary volume gathers selected, refereed contributions on various aspects of public health from several disciplines and research fields, including the philosophy of science, epidemiology, statistics and ethics. The contributions were originally presented at the 1st Barcelona conference of “Philosophy of Public Health” (5th – 7th May 2016). This book is intended for researchers interested in public health and the contemporary debates surrounding it.

This book provides an overview on critical healing, which draws on queer theory, disability studies, postcolonial theory, and literary and cultural studies in order to theorize productive engagements between the clinical and cultural aspects of biomedical knowledge and practice. The essays in this volume historicize and theorize diagnosis, particularly diagnosis that impacts trans health and sexuality, queer health and identity, and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The chapters also address racialization, disability, and colonialism through discussions of fiction, film, critical memoir, and comics in relation to biomedical discourse and knowledge. Previously published in Journal of Medical Humanities Volume 40, issue 1, March 2019 Chapter “Queer Theory and Biomedical Practice: The Biomedicalization of Sexuality/The Cultural Politics of Biomedicine” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book fills a gap in the literature on the Precautionary Principle by placing the principle within the wider context of precautionary reasoning and uses philosophical arguments and case studies to demonstrate when it does—and does not—apply. The book invites the reader to take a step back from the controversy surrounding the Precautionary Principle and consider the overarching rationales for responding to threats to the environment or public health. It provides practical guidance and probing insight for the intended audience, including scholars, students, journalists, and policymakers.

This Series will provide microbiologists, hygienists, epidemiologists and infectious diseases specialists with well-chosen contributed volumes containing updated information in the areas of basic and applied microbiology involving relevant issues for public health, including bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections, zoonoses and anthropozoonoses, environmental and food microbiology. The increasing threat of the multidrug-resistant microorganisms and the related host immune response, the new strategies for the treatment of biofilm-based, acute and chronic microbial infections, as well as the development of new vaccines and more efficacious antimicrobial drugs to prevent and treat human and animal infections will be also reviewed in this series in the light of the most recent achievements in these fields. Special attention will be devoted to the fast diffusion worldwide of the new findings of the most advanced translational researches carried out in the different fields of microbiological sciences, with the aim to promote a prompt validation and transfer at clinical level of the most promising experimental results.