Viruses: Agents of Change

Ann Fettner. McGraw-Hill Companies, $19.95 (287pp) ISBN 978-0-07-020664-9

While AIDS has focused attention on the virus carrying this scourge, medical columnist Fettner ( The Truth About AIDS ) here writes that viruses are the suspected agents of many more maladies--multiple sclerosis, arthritis, some cancers, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, etc. In accessible, literate prose, the knowledgeable author describes the nature and bewildering array of genetically derived, easily mutated and virtually invisible varieties (100 or more may cause colds alone). Moreover, today's worldwide research and epidemiology effort, she claims--due to the need to find a cure for viruses like AIDS--is now moving with fresh vigor to identify and treat viral sources of a broader range of health problems. (Aug.)