The Spectrum of Bronchial Infection : European Respiratory Monograph 60

as well as Director of Respiratory Diseases at the Unit IRCCS Fondazione Ca `Granda Ospedale Maggiore Milan. He is currently President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) (2012)(2013). Professor Blasi has published more than 180 papers in international journals. He is an Associate Editor on the editorial boards of Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Respiratory Research, Clinical Respiratory Journal and Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease. His research interests include the effects of atypical bacterial infection on cellular immunity in chronic bronchitis, and the role of atypical bacteria and viral infection in asthma onset. He is also interested in the role of antibiotics in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations and asthma. He is actively working on pneumonia and tuberculosis research trials. Professor Blasi was also involved in the ERS/European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) guidelines on lower respiratory tract infections. In addition to being a member of the ERS, he is also a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Italian Respiratory Medicine Society (SIMeR).

In this rich compilation, Emeka Nwosu takes the reader to a journey of the issues that have helped to shape discourses on various aspects of the Nigerian state and society. The articles, originally published in his weekly column in the premier Nigerian daily newspaper, ThisDay, not only show his perspectives on these issues when they were written but also reveal how discussions on some of those issues have evolved over time and how they have mutated today.

Journalists, especially those who maintain regular columns, are often said to write 'history in a hurry'. For experienced writers like the author whose writings are research-based, it does not mean that what they write about is factually wrong but simply that their writings are infused with the passions and emotions that attended those issues as they unfolded.

This collection is therefore not only informed commentaries on some of the issues that have shaped the contour of the Nigerian state and society over the years but a good trip on the passions and emotions that attended those discourses. The articles, 66 of them, are written with remarkable candour and gusto and therefore a delight to read. They form a very important contribution to the corpus of works on Nigerian politics and society.

Lower respiratory tract infections are one the most frequent causes of medical consultation in primary care. In this Monograph, a series of prestigious researchers and clinicians provide an overview of the advances in the pathogenesis, manifestations and new approaches to treatment of bronchial infection in a wide variety of clinical scenarios