Soap and Water & Common Sense: The Definitive Guide to Viruses, Bacteria, Parasites, and Disease
By Dr. Bonnie Henry. House of Anansi Press

Eleven years ago, when epidemiologist Dr. Bonnie Henry originally published this work for the reading public, she likely had no inkling that she would one day find herself among B.C.’s most famous and trusted figures, with a guaranteed spot in the history of the province and the nation.

No doubt she’d wish that Soap and Water & Common Sense hadn’t turned to be quite so prescient or relevant, but here we are. And it’s fascinating (and maybe encouraging, in a way) that the advice she gave then for staving off pandemics is unaltered today: stay home whenever you’re running a temperature, cover your mouth when you cough, and—in the name of all that’s holy—wash your hands.

Fully updated with a new introduction on staying well in the days of COVID-19, this readable tour of the microbial world has leaped from the Science section straight into General Interest, in the deepest sense of that term.