The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is launching its first free online course with the help of its partners FutureLearn.
The course
This free online course looks at how Ebola, a disease that many people had never heard of until last year, has caused a humanitarian crisis and worldwide panic. It examines the science behind the outbreak, to understand why it has occurred on this scale and how it can be controlled.
The course is taught by experts from a wide range of disciplines from epidemiologists and clinicians to anthropologists and health systems researchers. There will be contributions from experts from a range of disciplines, including those who have been directly involved in the Ebola outbreak at different stages and from different angles.
Modules / activities will be structured around the following themes:
- Infection and the importance of context
- Why and when to isolate? The logic and experience of isolation
- Transmissibility: measuring and experiencing an epidemic
- Reducing transmission: what works?
- How can we reduce the deaths? Treatments and survival
- Could vaccines be the answer?
- The future and wider impact: where is the epidemic going?
By the end of the course you should have an understanding of the key principles that underlie the spread of infectious diseases, and of the key importance of context in determining transmission and shaping control efforts.
Information:
Start date: 19 January 2015
Duration: 2 weeks, 6 hours per week
Email enquiries: study@lshtm.ac.uk
For more information about this course and registration click here.
Read more:
Ebola in West Africa: the economic implications
