Online course on Epidemics by the University of Pennsylvania

Epidemics - the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases, this course deals with the dynamics of malaria, HIV/AIDS, influenza, measles. How they emerge, how they spread around the globe, and how they can best be controlled.

About the course
Diseases like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, or the flu are still major killers worldwide, and novel emerging diseases are a constant threat to public health. In addition, the bugs are evolving. Antibiotics, our most potent weapon against bacterial infections, are losing their power because the bacteria are becoming resistant. In this course, we'll explore the major themes of infectious diseases dynamics.

Course Syllabus
This course will cover key concepts that relate to the emergence, the spread, and the control of infectious disease epidemics.

Topics covered are

• The basics: history of infectious diseases, basic concepts of disease dynamics, parasite diversity, evolution & ecology of infectious diseases
• Emergence of diseases: The basic reproductive number, critical community size, epidemic curve, zoonoses, spill over, human / wildlife interface, climate change, hot zones, pathology
• Spread of diseases: transmission types (droplets, vectors, sex), superspreading, diffusion, social networks, nosomical transmission, manipulation of behavior
• Control of diseases: drug resistance, vaccination, herd immunity, quarantines, antibiotics, antivirals, health communication, ethical challenges of disease control
• The future of infectious diseases: Evolution of virulence, emergence of drug resistance, eradication of diseases, medicine & evolution, crop diseases & food security, digital epidemiology

Prerequisites
No background is required.

Course Sessions
September 29, 2014 - December 1, 2014

For further information, click here.