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Back to Epidemics - the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases

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

4.8
stars
1,516 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.

SN

Apr 11, 2016

great course and its intensive learning . One might think its just another course . However, one needs to follow all the lectures and notes closely to be able to pass all their assignments .

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26 - 50 of 376 Reviews for Epidemics - the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases

By Lisa M

Jun 22, 2022

Super interesting, especially since the course appears to have been developed in 2014 but is SO relevant to the Covid pandemic and the emerging monkey pox epidemics! Professors from various specialties and areas of interest were brought in to give a well-rounded discussion of epidemic and the dynamics of infectious disease, including the social sciences (human behaviour, climate change, social media...) , microbiology/virology (human, plant and animal and how they interrelate), epidemiology, statistics. Thank you!

By Robert C S

Dec 12, 2016

Enjoyed the course tremendously, and it was a wonderful refresher course that I am using to keep me current with some of the tangential parts of my field of expertise. I would recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in infectious disease, epidemiology, microbiology, or related fields. The videos were short, direct, and enlightening and not dry and boring light some educational videos can tend to be. I am planning on taking a number of other courses offered through Coursera.org

By Hasala S k G K

Jul 26, 2020

I am a mathematician who is primarily researching in mathematical control theory, who wanted to have a broader overview of epidemiology necessarily with biological aspects and mathematical epidemiology. This course was very helpful! I definitely recommend this course to anyone who is interested in learning epidemiology with possible directions of further studies and research. I make this an opportunity to thank everybody who taught the course and put everything together. Excellent job!

By Aparna S

Sep 26, 2020

I would like to thank the instructors for designing such a wonderful course which concentrates on every aspect of epidemics. I thoroughly enjoyed myself through this learning process. The concepts were explained in a simple manner with focus on arousing curiosity and interest in the mind of the learners while giving insights into the world of epidemics and its dynamics. Highly recommend this course for those who are interested in disease biology and its impacts on the world.

By abi

Apr 8, 2021

An extremely engaging, helpful and exciting course which I looked forward to continuing each week, thanks to how brilliantly it was put together and how the topics were taught (in depth without being too confusing!). The end of topic tests weren't too heavy and allowed me to reflect back on all the information and put it to use. It gave me a lot of insight into what work is currently going on behind the scenes during the COVID pandemic, too.

By Kathy P

May 13, 2020

I found this course to be incredibly interesting and informative. The group of various instructors made the subject matter easy enough to understand yet complex enough to get across the information. Having taken this in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak helps me better understand all that is going on in our world right now in regard to the pandemic, and how incredibly complex it is to deal with an infectious disease outbreak.

By Teresa R

Nov 17, 2019

I became more knowledgeable of infectious diseases and I have been inspired to carry on researching the dynamics of zoonotic diseases and exploring the case studies of infections and natural history. Really enjoyed videos such as the Zombie Ants, Pathogen-Microbiome Interactions, Types of Immunity, Immunity Evasion and the theory behind the immunity response to infection and pathogen activity.

By Garima K S

Oct 17, 2022

Loved it!

Highly recommened for students or professionals in public health, healthcare or research sector. Even for someone who is curious about epidemiology, public health, or health in general will find it useful in a real life setting (like the latest pandemic).

Highly informative and well taught!

Thanks all instructors and everyone involved in putting it together!

Thanks Coursera!

By Lazara M

Sep 23, 2019

This was definitely a wonderful, yet challenging course. I am in the military, and work in Preventive Medicine. I thought I was very strong in this field, as far as education is concerned, and I was far from it. Overall this course has brightened up the information I do have, and has better prepared me for future enrollment into graduate school.

By Mellenie S

Jan 17, 2017

Excellent course. I really love the way it opened my eyes to the workings of disease and how it could be controlled globally. I am a certified medical laboratory professional so I have some kind of medical background. But this course has been pleasantly exhilarating. It added so much to my current knowledge. I absolutely recommend this.

By 贾米兰

Oct 14, 2017

I appreciate every fabulous lectures presented by all the faculty,as your vivid description and delicate arrangement of this course do help me a lot on understanding the dynamics of epidemiology. For a medical student like me, surely this class is not just academically but also practically useful in my further studying in the future.

By alysha g

Nov 30, 2015

The course provides an excellent fundamental base for the study of disease and epidemics, Also, the various approaches from social aspects to microbiology, really gives a wide range of perspective, which ultimately stirs up ideas and implications that make one feel capable of entering any discussion surrounding the topic.

By Nicole M

Oct 11, 2015

This was one of my first online courses and I think the lecturers did an excellent job of conveying the material especially through this medium. They were also quick to respond to any questions that I had about lectures. I loved the material they presented as well. Great Course. I would definitely recommend it.

By Sharik V V Z

Jul 11, 2019

Es un curso sumamente enriquecedor, posee componentes de vital importancia para el entendimiento de la dinámica de las enfermedades. Como estudiante de microbiología próxima a graduarse sinceramente encontré este curso como una manera muy óptima y entretenida de refrescar mis conocimientos. Muchas gracias.

By Art M

Dec 27, 2020

I took this course in Dec 2020 with the ability to compare how what we knew, learned and efforts to predict and control COVID-19 fit nicely with the modules of the course. Living through this pandemic to-date and getting the insights of diseases dynamics from this course - very helpful and on target.

By Przemysław M J

Aug 25, 2015

Great course! Concise form and presentations are very inspiring. The variety of covered topics is definitely impressive. Even I have strong experience in Public Health, I personally find this course as extremely useful and helping in clarifying some concepts of epidemiology and infectious diseases.

By Daniela V D

Nov 9, 2016

I loved it! there are no words to describe how much this course has complemented my college education and how has change the idea i had about infectious diseases. Now i wish to continue the study of the Neglected tropical diseases and apply that knowledge in my country and community. Thanks a lot.

By Zaki A

Dec 11, 2019

Insightful course explaining many different aspects of epidemiology, which I would have never thought were associated with the subject. Also tied in some history and an interesting fact about ants towards the end - both of which i found really interesting. Also, nice work on The Last of Us :)

By PRIYANKA M R

Jul 10, 2020

I'm very happy to have been learnt many important aspects of epidemics. I think it's really important to understand the dynamics of infectious diseases at this present age of many health related crisis. I'm very grateful to Coursera for giving me such a good platform to enhance my knowledge.

By GAURI C

May 14, 2020

The course was well defined and structured. I learned a lot of things about the epidemics which were prevalent or about the diseases which can occur in the future. The study is crucial to the current COVID 19 situation and certainly answers a lot of intriguing questions about it.

By Yoel C I

Aug 12, 2016

Great course! I would like to thank the teachers for their awesome work in this course, it´s been a pleasure choosing Epidemics - the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases, so much that I will do my best to translate the course for the spanish speakers. Again, please continue teaching!

By enrico

Apr 28, 2016

One of the best course I've follow this year. The topic is really interesting, the lessons were simple to be followed and in the final lessons professors zere able to stimulate student's curiosity about the view of infection control in the future. Congratulations. Enrico Leott

By Carlos B P

Dec 13, 2015

Curso muy completo en el que con una carga de trabajo normal aprendes mucho sobre las Epidemias (desde su evolución en el pasado a la actualidad, como combatirlas e incluso el futuro de esta disciplina).

Si te gusta el tema de las enfermedad infecciosas lo recomiendo mucho.

By Olga l G c

Jul 27, 2020

Fue un curso muy completo, donde se tomaron desde los conceptos mas básicos hasta información muy precisa e interesante, fue una gran herramienta en estos tiempos de pandemia; logre aclarar muchas dudas en cuanto a la temática, como una gran herramienta de aprendizaje.

By babo a

Oct 23, 2018

Ce cours m'a permis d'avoir une connaissance large sur la pathologie infectieuse ainsi que les mesures sanitaires à entreprendre c'est-à-dire l'utilisation des médicaments au moment où le besoin y est afin de bien les gérer sans être perturber les flores bactériennes.