About This Course

The aim of this course in epidemiology is to prepare students to practice infectious disease epidemiology in any public health setting. The epidemiology and control of numerous infectious diseases with global public health implications will be discussed. The most important groups of infectious diseases, including respiratory and enteric infections, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Diseases will be considered. The course focuses on the biological basis, incidence, prevalence, morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases. In addition, the mechanisms and social factors that make infectious disease epidemiology differ from non-infectious disease epidemiology with regard to risk assessment and control program implementation will be addressed. Focus will be on how risk factors, contact patterns, transmission dynamics, and pathogen evolution determine endemic and epidemic levels of infection. Primary, secondary and tertiary strategies to prevent infectious diseases will be discussed. Students will be given an understanding of traits shared by all infectious agents (such as virulence) as well as those that are disease-specific. Students will also learn how to conduct outbreak investigations applying epidemiologic methods in studies of infectious disease prevention and control.