EMCM 2012, European Manual of Clinical Microbiology (1st edition)

From a French handbook to a European manual: This was the challenge met (and won) in less than one year by the Editorial Board of and all those contributing to the European Manual of Clinical Microbiology. Early in 2011, the Presidents of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and of the Société Française de Microbiologie, decided to publish a text of clinical microbiology. The template for this would be the widely popular French REMIC, which non-French authors would adapt and integrate in accordance with ‘European' practices and the European body of knowledge. A number of microbiologists gathered at the ECCMID in Milano agreed to take on this challenge. This new book, contains contributions by nearly one hundred experienced medical microbiologists, and is mainly intended for all those involved in medical microbiology. However, its style makes it suitable for clinicians, too, and as a reference test for residents and students. Diagnostic schemes and recommendations spring from the professional experience of internationally-recognised authors, and make large use of guidelines and consensus documents published by several international societies. This is but the first edition of the Manual, and, like all books, it is incomplete and not sufficiently up-to-date at the time of going to press.