For most physicians reading this book in the developed world, rheumatic fever is a condition studied at medical school, rarely encountered in clinical practice and not considered a “dread disease” in comparison with, for example AIDS. Armed with the Jones criteria and bountiful antibiotics we feel confident in dealing with rheumatic fever, sometimes forgetting that in the developing world it remains a major problem, and that mini epidemics still occur in the USA and Europe.

This extraordinary work from Dr Benedict Massel is a timely reminder that rheumatogenic group A haemolytic streptococci are still present and still defying an effective vaccine development.

Dr Massel has accomplished in one concise and readable book (286 pages of …