We planned the first edition of this book on a ‘need to know’
basis, its primary object being to provide students and medical
and dental practitioners with the knowledge essential for an
informed approach to the prevention and treatment of viral
infections. We aimed also at supplying just enough basic virology
to underpin the more practical aspects—clinical manifestations,
epidemiology, pathogenesis, immune responses, and so
forth. And not least, we tried our best to make the text as readable
as is possible, given the highly technical nature of some of
the material.