title: Deliberate release of biological agents.
abstract: Deliberate release of biological agents is a growing threat, but clinical recognition of the resulting diseases is hampered by their rarity and similar presentation to more common illnesses. Despite substantial publicity, access to information may be difficult. Further, the available data are fragmented and not always relevant to critical care settings. We describe the clinical presentations of some important infections, highlighting the features that are relevant to critically ill patients. We provide an integrated set of guidelines for diagnosis, patient care and infection control and have attempted to list important print- and web-based resources for further information.
authors.affiliation: Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Box 93, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. Sardesai1@aol.com
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sardesai
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Menon
mesh_terms: D023482:Bioterrorism; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control; D007757:Laboratory Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D035583:Rare Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy