Book excerpt: Thoroughly updated for its Fifth Edition, this convenient, portable handbook is a comprehensive guide to the evaluation of more than 530 signs and symptoms. It has all the assessment information busy clinicians need in a single source. Each entry describes the sign or symptom and covers emergency interventions if needed, history and physical examination, medical and other causes with their associated signs and symptoms, and special considerations such as tests, monitoring, treatment, and gender and cultural issues. This edition identifies specific signs and symptoms caused by emerging diseases such as avian flu, monkeypox, respiratory syncytial virus, norovirus, metabolic syndrome, blast lung injury, Kawasaki disease, and popcorn lung disease.