USP 321 - Infectious Disease and Epidemiology

Credits: 4

This course introduces the basic methods for infectious disease epidemiology and public health case studies of important disease syndromes effecting Uganda and East Africa. Methods include epidemiology definitions and nomenclature, basic disease pathology, symptom presentation, laboratory findings and the physiology behind basic treatment for the diseases causing most significant morbidity and mortality in East Africa. This course focuses on epidemiology with the combined learning outcomes of pathophysiology and public health for infectious diseases at individual, community and systems levels. This course must be taken concurrently with Cross-Cultural Practicum in Global Health, where students gain applied field knowledge in 150-hour global health practicums with international clinicians and public health educators. This course includes case studies of: viral infections (dengue fever, HIV/AIDS, WNV, zika, etc.), bacterial infections (tuberculosis, typhoid and diarrheal infections), and parasitic infections (schistosomiasis, trypanosomiasis and helminths).

Prerequisite(s): BIO 105 and BIO 106, or score of 5 on the AP Biology exam.
Corequisite(s): Available only to students participating in the BestSemester Uganda Studies Program.