The purpose of this unit is to understand the context of disease within the population; what factors influence spread and impact of infection within and between a communities; what control measures are required to control and prevent outbreaks of disease within and between communities; what global factors are important in influencing public health and why is public/global health surveillance important.
Key topics covered are;
- Concepts in global health including population descriptors and data
- Principles of epidemiology including study design
- Public health consequences and control measures for sporadic cases and outbreaks of infectious disease
- Disease causation
- The role of public health surveillance methods for emerging infections
- Outbreak investigation methods
- The impact of increased global travel on infection patterns
- Screening programmes in relation to public health
- The role of vaccines in improving Global Health
The unit aims to enable students to understand the impact of infection on human populations, the methodology used to investigate infectious disease outbreaks and the role of public health monitoring in a global context.
