[Infectious agents : current concepts and perspectives]

The authors present a detailed discussion on infectious agents and their development in the immediate future and the anti-microbial strategies which need to be developed. After describing a series of new diseases and the suspected microbial aetiology of little known syndromes, they describe the major lines of development of chemotherapy: new products which need to be developed; microbial enzyme inhibitors; selective transport. The proper use of the range of drugs already available should not be underestimated. Finally, the authors review recent developments and the prospects for the future in the immunological field: new vaccines or the improvement of existing vaccines and the immense possibilities of immunological techniques of identification.