Infectious Diseases

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course will examine infectious diseases with global health impact, analyzing their historic and projected impact, biological foundations, and preventive control. Course topics include gastrointestinal infections (e.g., cholera, bacillary dysentery, typhoid fever, rotavirus infections), sexually transmitted diseases (HIV), infections transmitted via aerosol droplets (tuberculosis, meningitis), and vector borne diseases (e.g., malaria, typhus, dengue fever, plague). Special emphasis will be placed on emerging infectious diseases (Ebola, Coronavirus) and the role of vaccines and other strategies for infectious disease elimination (smallpox, polio, malaria, river blindness). The course encompasses lectures and student presentations. Students have the option to write a paper in lieu of a final exam