Medical microbiologists, dental specialists, infectious disease specialists, nutritionists and gastroenterologists will all find this book of immense interest and value, as will epidemiologists, dermatologists and general microbiologists. Microflora of the skin, respiratory tract, oral cavity, gastrointestinal system and genital tract are all discussed and the impact of molecular methods on our understanding of the normal microflora is emphasised throughout the book. A total of 112 isolates, including 42 (37.5) Streptococcus pneumoniae, 39 (34.8) Haemophilus influenzae and 31 (27.6) Moraxella catarrhalis, were recovered from clinical samples obtained from 108 children. Each of the chapters reviews current knowledge about a specific group or organism within the microflora and the diseases they can cause. Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bani Sweef University, Egypt. This title brings together an international list of contributors, all of whom have active research interests in the normal microflora. The study of the diseases then caused is important both in terms of treatment and in terms of contributing to our understanding of the mechanisms by which the normal microflora usually interacts with the host. For a variety of reasons, however, this interaction can be disturbed and often results in the microflora becoming pathogens. An etiologic role for pneumococcus in pneumonia is strongly suggested by microscopic demonstration of large numbers of PMNs, few epithelial cells, and numerous, slightly elongated gram-positive cocci in pairs and chains in a Gram-stained sputum. The mechanisms by which this co-existence is achieved are still not properly understood and the interaction between the normal microflora and the host is far from simple. This normal microflora usually co-exists relatively peacefully with the host and does not cause infection. It has been estimated that there are more microbial cells inhabiting the human body than there are eukaryotic cells of which it is made up.