Handbook

This is a PLuS Alliance course offered through UNSW. Students at UNSW, Arizona State University and Kings College London who are in a PLuS Alliance program can enrol into this course.

This course is offered in two modes: either face to face (on-campus) and fully online.

In our history pathogens such as HIV, Ebola, Avian Influenza, SARS and more recently Zika virus have emerged to challenge human populations. This course will introduce you to the challenges of identifying and controlling infectious diseases through an appreciation of key factors such as differing modes of transmission, the basics of descriptive epidemiology, the importance of surveillance in achieving disease prevention and control and key steps in outbreak investigation and current disease control strategies. Examples including Ebola, influenza, measles, pneumococcal disease, rotavirus, SARS and TB will be used to learn about preparing for and containing diseases with potentially catastrophic impact to health and economic stability. Towards the end of the course we look at how infectious disease control is enabled through lens of policy and practice. This course supports you achieving a range of capabilities that you will need if you are planning to have a career in epidemiology and infectious disease control.

Please note prior to 2019 this course was titled Current Challenges in Infectious Diseases.