Human Infectious Diseases

This course focuses on human infectious diseases that are leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The infection process of selected viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens will be discussed, with a special focus on the most serious human pathogens. The interactions of these pathogens with the human host will be addressed and we will discuss how pathogens respond to countermeasures such as antibiotic use and vaccination. The course will also address ecology and epidemiology and how the diseases are diagnosed, prevented and controlled. An important aim of the course is to improve our understanding of how and why pathogens emerge and what can be done to predict and control future outbreaks, taking into account the One Health concept. Particular attention is paid to pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to humans (zoonotic pathogens).

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Describe the characteristics of (re-)emerging viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens
• Understand how viruses, bacteria and parasites enter the human body and how they initiate replication
• Remember the pathogenesis of selected viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases
• Understand how the host counteracts infections of viruses, bacteria and parasites
• Understand how the pathogens counteract innate and adaptive host responses
• Give examples of the roles of animals and the environment in the ecology of human infectious diseases
• Remember the basics of (molecular) epidemiology
• Perform basic virological assays in a laboratory (titration, calculations, dilution series, infection, microscopy, SDS-PAGE, western blot)
• Report on experiments performed, including interpretation of results and drawing conclusions

You must meet the following requirements

• Completed none of the course modules listed below
• Principles of Virology (VIR21303)