Time Schedule:
Rhea N. Coler
G H 201
Seattle Campus
Newly recognized and emerging diseases pose a major problem for public health. AIDS, hantavirus and Ebola virus infections, and the role of bacterial infection in the causation of stomach ulcers are examples of problems studied. Other timely diseases presented. Offered: A.
Class description
The course will cover the origin, biology, epidemiology, host immune response, and methods to control emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases of global health importance including HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria,and other various vector-borne and non vector-borne pathogens.
Student learning goals
Compare and contrast the major new and re-emerging infectious diseases in the world today
Explain the mechanisms by which these agents cause disease (transmission, target organ, pathogenesis)
Discuss the factors (social, economic, geographic) that contribute to the emergence of these diseases
Discuss the relative significance of these diseases compared to each other in terms of morbidity, mortality, and effect on human populations
Study immune responses to infectious diseases
Know the available diagnostics, treatments and vaccines that are (or are not) available to treat these diseases
General method of instruction
Dr. Coler or guest lecturer will lecture for 50 minutes allowing questions at the mid-point and at the end of each session. Lecture notes as pdfs will be emailed and posted on the GH201 website
Recommended preparation
The course has no required text but Cedric Mims, “Medical Microbiology”; Mosby, is a good source of background information
Class assignments and grading
The course will consist of two exams.The midterm will cover the first half of the course. The final will cover the whole course with strong emphasis on the second half of the course. The exams are multiple choice and true/false questions. Students will give their answers on a “bubble” sheet. Students must supply their own standard (purple) sheets for the exam.
The grade you receive in the course will be based on a pre-set scale that relates the percentage of points you earn to a numerical grade. In other words, your grade is related to an absolute standard rather than a curve in which a certain percentage of students must excel and a certain percentage must fail. The 100% level in the scale is not the total number of possible points, but the average of the total number of points earned by the top 10-20 undergraduates in the course. Thus, if the top 10 (or 20) undergraduates average 108 out of a total of 125 points during the quarter, then 108 points will be set as the 100% level. This step serves to adjust the number of points relative to the difficulty of the exams.
