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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Epidemics - the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases by The Pennsylvania State University

4.8
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1,519 ratings

About the Course

Not so long ago, it was almost guaranteed that you would die of an infectious disease. In fact, had you been born just 150 years ago, your chances of dying of an infectious disease before you've reached the tender age of 5 would have been extremely high. Since then, science has come a long way in understanding infectious diseases - what they are, how they spread, and how they can be prevented. But diseases like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, or the flu are still major killers worldwide, and novel emerging diseases are a constant threat to public health. In addition, the bugs are evolving. Antibiotics, our most potent weapon against bacterial infections, are losing their power because the bacteria are becoming resistant. In this course, we'll explore the major themes of infectious diseases dynamics. After we’ve covered the basics, we'll be looking at the dynamics of the flu, and why we're worried about flu pandemics. We'll be looking at the dynamics of childhood diseases such as measles and whooping cough, which were once considered almost eradicated, but are now making a comeback. We'll explore Malaria, and use it as a case study of the evolution of drug resistance. We'll even be looking at social networks - how diseases can spread from you to your friends to your friends' friends, and so on. And of course we’ll be talking about vaccination too. We’ll also be talking about how mobile phones, social media and crowdsourcing are revolutionizing disease surveillance, giving rise to a new field of digital epidemiology. And yes, we will be talking about Zombies - not human zombies, but zombie ants whose brains are hijacked by an infectious fungus. We're looking forward to having you join us for an exciting course!...

Top reviews

DB

Apr 22, 2016

Can't fault this course at all and nor would I want to. Very interesting, brilliantly presented and the range of experts really enhanced it. It was engaging and made me keen to find out more.

DJ

May 12, 2017

It is a wonderful course , I have gain and updated my Knowledge in the area of Epidemics and Infectious Disease, Thanks to the Course organizers and most effective presentations . Dr Shivaji

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376 - 376 of 376 Reviews for Epidemics - the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases

By Jennifer R

•

Jan 23, 2023

This course was not only very outdated but the tests consisted of random, unimportant questions, many of which were full of double negatives. It was as if they were trying to make the questions as hard as possible so they could trick the test taker instead of assessing the test takers actual knowledge. Also, the same question and answer was marked correct on one test and then incorrect on a subsequent test. The videos were presented in a very elementary way with weird cartoon drawings and no real power point slides or notes and all of the presenters were very unprofessional in their appearance. The only reason I finished this course was because I had already started it and I did not want to have it unfinished. I learned absolutely nothing from this course and would not recommend it to anyone.