Emerging Infections of International Public Health Importance

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Emerging Infections of
International Public Health Importance


Welcome to the on-line Emerging Infections of International Public Health Importance course. This is the fourth year of offering this popular course as a distance learning on-line venue. The original course began in 1995 and was jointly funded by University of Washington and the Centers for Disease Control.

The distance learning site for "Emerging Infections" was developed to serve two purposes.

  • First, it is designed to provide information and teaching materials for teachers in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Economies. We hope to enhance collaborative learning about emerging infections among our colleagues in the Pacific Rim and are actively soliciting materials from other economies to complement those now on the site.
     
  • Second, it is designed for the student of public health. Materials have been compiled into a structured course for credit through the University of Washington. The distance learning site was first presented in 1999 to in-residence graduate students. Due to the success of the class and the satisfaction among students, it has become an ongoing course.
The original lectures have been edited and modified to fit our distance learning module. We are very grateful to the contributors who have provided these excellent lectures and given their time in editing the on-line materials. This is an important area of learning and each of these individuals has demonstrated exceptional commitment to this effort.

Course Coordinators:

Dr. Ann Marie Kimball,  MD, MPH
Professor, Epidemiology/Health Services
Adjunct Professor, Medicine
akimball@u.washington.edu

Dr. Kimball is Professor of Epidemiology and Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. She is an adjunct professor in Biomedical and Health Informatics and Medicine with the School of Medicine. She is Director of the Asia Pacific Emerging Infections Network and is an attending physician at the STD Clinic at Harborview Medical Center. In 2001 she was named as a Fulbright New Century Scholar and this year she received a Guggenheim scholar award. She has worked extensively in the areas of trade policy and disease control, and telecommunications and disease surveillance and alert systems. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual (APHA 2000, 2005) and as a member of the Institute of Medicine Expert Committee to review the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance program. She is a fellow in the American College of Preventive Medicine. She is Chair of the University of Washington Hogness Symposium and a member of the International Faculty Council of the University.

Dr. Carrie Horwitch,  MD, MPH
Clinical Assistant Professor, Health Services
Associate Director, Medical Education, Virginia Mason Medical Center
carrieho@u.washington.edu

Dr. Horwitch is a clinical assistant professor of Health Services in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington. She is also co-investigator for the APEC Emerging Infections Network project and has been co-coordinator and instructor for the Emerging Infectious Diseases of International Public Health Importance course since its inception. She is an internal medicine specialist with experience in HIV/AIDS care and tropical medicine training. She is an Associate Program Director for internal medicine residency and is the Director for the ambulatory and HIV clinic at the Virginia Mason Medical Center.




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Course Objectives

The overall objective of the course is to develop a realistic appreciation of the importance of emerging infectious disease to the future of international public health. The course will introduce students to some of the newest thinking in the field of emerging infections and will give them the tools to examine the importance of new diseases. Emphasis will be placed on the concept of emergence and the mechanisms of emergence of pathogens as outlined in the 1992 and 2003 Institute of Medicine Report. Specific diseases such as SARS, BSE, influenza and West Nile Virus will also be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on their public health implications in the areas of prevention, surveillance, and control.

The course is divided into three modules:

Module 1: The Paradigm of Emergence

  • Course Introduction and Overview of Emerging Infections
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases; Worldwide and in the Americas
  • Influenza
  • Tuberculosis: Global Impact and Drug Resistance

Module 2: Current Challenges in Infectious Diseases

  • Prions and Species Jumping
  • Trade-related Infections
  • Bioterrorism
  • West Nile Virus
  • HIV/AIDS

Module 3: Public Health Response

  • Workup on the Unknown—Epi Investigations
  • Workup on the Unknown—Lab Investigations
  • Malaria and Vaccine Development
  • WHO Response—SARS and Emerging Infections

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Readings Go to Top
 
Module Questions

There are questions associated with each module. Answering these questions will help students think about the course concepts. The information needed to answer the questions can be found in both the lectures and the readings.

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Evaluation

We have an evaluation form for this online course. It is important for us to have timely feedback so we can improve the organization, content, usefulness, and expediency of this web-based format. We would appreciate your response. Comments on the modules, lectures or format are welcomed and can be sent to: carrieho@u.washington.edu

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Copyright

This web site and the lectures it contains are the property of the University of Washington and the individual speakers presented here. No reproduction or publication of this material is allowed without the direct consent of the course coordinators and lecture presenters.

 

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Box 357660, Seattle, WA 98195-7660
e-mail:
carrieho@u.washington.edu