Professional epidemiologists are often called on to investigate outbreaks and epidemics. This course serves as an introduction to the essentials of investigation, identifying pathogens, figuring out what's going on, reporting, and responding. You'll learn how to ask precise epidemiologic questions and apply epidemiologic tools to uncover the answers.
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You'll also learn about basic epidemic dynamics and the terrible law that cause them to grow, as well as the reasons why they recede and eventually go away. The course concludes with deep dives into some real outbreaks from Ebola, in West Africa, to the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Course 5 of 5 in the Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization.
What You Will Learn
- Apply methods to weigh evidence and calculate measures
- Discuss outbreaks and the key epidemiologic tools used during investigation
- Apply basic epidemic dynamics to the analysis of outbreaks
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Identifying and Investigating Outbreaks: The Basics
In this module we're going to be talking about outbreaks. All the way through identifying the pathogens and figuring out what's going on to reporting and responding to the outbreak. In doing so we're going to learn several important epidemiological concepts.
WEEK 2
Weighing Evidence and Identifying Causes
In this module, we'll be learning about how to ask precise epidemiologic questions and how to investigate these using important tools.
WEEK 3
The Terrible Law: Basic Epidemic Dynamics
In this module, we'll be talking about basic epidemic dynamics and the terrible law that causes epidemics to grow, and the reasons why epidemics recede and eventually go away
WEEK 4
Case Studies in Outbreaks and Epidemics: From Ebola to Overdose
In this module, we're going to take a deep dive in some outbreaks from Ebola, in West Africa, to the opioid epidemic in the United States.
