As part of their summer program in Public Health, the AISER is inviting to attend new course Communicable Diseases and Infection Control in conflict zones, including recent outbreaks in Abkhazia.
Course Description:
This course will provide the learner with an overview and understanding of the fundamentals of communicable diseases. Students will be presented with information on the microbiology of contagious
pathogens, disease transmission, and infection control measures to prevent or stop the spread of communicable diseases. Emphasis will be placed on the pathogens that are likely to be used in a bioterrorism attack and new or re-emerging infectious diseases.
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course a student will be able to:
· Name the infectious diseases with the largest global impact and discuss the financial,
medical, and social affects of these diseases
· Define infectious diseases and differentiate them from other types of disease processes
· Describe normal immune functioning, compare it with immunosuppressed states, and
identify how immune status affects the development of infectious diseases in normal
and vulnerable populations
· Summarize methods of disease transmission and apply principles of infection control in
describing measures to prevent transmission from occurring
· Identify vaccine preventable diseases and obstacles to compliance with recommended
immunization schedules
· Identify infection prevention and control strategies to limit the secondary spread of
infections, including assessment of strategies implemented during past outbreaks and
disasters
· Describe pharmacological interventions for preventing, treating, and controlling
infectious diseases
· List the steps in outbreak investigation
· Compare and contrast naturally occurring to man-made infectious disease disasters
Course Format: Lectures, readings, and seminar discussions
Required Texts:
None.
Suggested Text (not required for class, but is a great reference book that outlines infectious
diseases):
1) Heymann, D. L. (Ed.). Control of Communicable Diseases in Man (18th edition). American Public
Health Association. ISBN: 0-87553-034-6
The text may be purchased from any online vendor. Examples include the Amazon.com, Barnes and
Noble, and ecampus.com. If you are a member of the American Public Health Association, you can
purchase the text at a reduced rate from their website: American Public Health Association ($30 for
members or $43 for non-members).
Course Outline:
Module 1: Introduction to immunology
Module 2: Disease development
Module 3: Vulnerable populations
Module 4: Disease transmission
Module 5: Microbiology, laboratory tests, and the LRN
Module 6: Anti-infective therapy and chemoprophylaxis
Module 7: Vaccination and vaccine preventable diseases
Module 8: Infection prevention and control
Module 9: Outbreak investigation
Module 10: Bioterrorism, emerging infections, and other disasters
Seminar Discussions:
For selected sessions, there will be a threaded discussion question or series of questions and each
student is expected to participate in that discussion. All opinions stated in the seminar discussions must be backed up by fact and accompanied with an abbreviated citation.
You must follow the guidelines for participating in threaded seminar discussions.
Seminar guidelines:
· Students must email their answer to the seminar question(s) to
the instructor by Thursday at midnight of the week that the question is posted.
· All student initial answers (that were emailed to the instructor) should be posted to the seminar
discussion board by Friday at midnight of the week that the question is posted. Student must
NOT post their answer until Friday at 12:01 am at the earliest. This time gap allows the
instructor to receive all answers before students see other students’ answers. To receive full
points for seminar discussion interaction, students must respond to at least one other student’s
posting. Interaction responses should be posted by Sunday at midnight of the week that the
question is posted. Comments should make a valuable contribution to the discussion by offering
new insights or information. A simple “I agree” or some form thereof is not considered a
sufficient posting for this class.
· All posts should be maintained under the initial posting (i.e., thread) started by the instructor for
that week/session. This is accomplished by hitting “Reply” or “Quote” rather than “Compose
message”. This will allow for the week/session’s postings to be compiled under one post
initiated by the instructor. For more information contact
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