COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Prefix/Number: PHC 6005
Course Title: Disease Transmission in the Urban Environment
Course Credit Hours: 3
Instructor Name and Contact Information::
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John Lanza, MD, PhD, MPH, FAAP Faculty Associate
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email: jlanza@uwf.edu
Julie Philippart, MS, MT
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email: jphilipp@uthsc.edu
Prerequisites or Co-Requisites: none
Course Description:
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This course focuses on disease transmission in the urban community –
how interaction between human behaviors and environmental changes
contribute to the spread of disease in urban areas in developed and
developing countries.
Student Learning Outcomes: Following this course, student will be able to:
 Describe the nature of infectious disease, modes of transmission, and
disease agents.
 Contrast and discuss historical and modern issues related to spread of
infectious diseases and their control.
 Describe behavioral and environmental factors associated with
infectious disease transmission.
 Discuss means of preventing disease by behavioral and/or
environmental modification.
 Discuss the important groups of communicable diseases - differentiate
between bacteria, viruses, and other infectious agents.
 Discuss current issues related to the spread of disease and prevention
strategies used in communicable disease control.
 Describe epidemiologic tools used to measure association and be able
to apply these concepts to evaluate the probable cause of an outbreak.
 Discuss data management for infectious diseases and tools for
managing surveillance and laboratory data.
Topics Covered:
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Migration and Disease
Emergence of New Diseases
Re-emergence of Old Diseases
Development of Antibiotic Resistance
Use of Microbes for Bioterrorism
Infectious Process and Modes of Disease Transmission
Food-Borne Illnesses
Hospital-acquired Infections
Immunization and Vaccines
Tuberculosis
HIV and AIDS
Upper Respiratory Infections
Zoonotic Infections
Arthropod-Transmitted Diseases
Global Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
The Ecology of Infectious Diseases
Seasonal Variation in Host Susceptibility and Cycles of Certain Diseases
Environmental Effects on Disease Transmission
Texts:
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Required text: Smolinski, M.S. et al., Microbial Threats to Health:
Emergence,Detection, and Response, Institute of Medicine, The National
Academies Press, 2003. This book is available at no cost to read online
at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10636
Grading/Evaluation: Evaluation of student grades will be based on their
performance in the following areas:
 Study questions on topics covered in each module.
 Blog discussion section and vignettes will be graded.
 A mid-term exam and a comprehensive final exam.
 A PPT presentation on a topic pertinent to disease transmission
and with prior approval of an instructor.
GRADE/PERCENTAGE:
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A = 95+%
A- = 90 – 94.9%
B+ = 87 – 89.9%
B = 84 – 86.9%
B- = 80 – 83.9%
C+ = 77 - 79.9%
C = 74 - 76.9%
C- = 70 - 73.9%
D+ = 67 - 69.9%
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D = 63 - 66.9%
F < 63%
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION:
Develop a PowerPoint presentation targeting a specific audience on a disease
transmission topic pertaining to subject matter covered in this course. You will need to
spend some time reading your course materials and searching the Internet. Your goal is to
define and research an interesting problem involving disease transmission as it pertains to
public health, and then develop a PowerPoint for presentation to an audience of your
choice. As you research your area of interest, start considering the following general
organization of the PPT presentation:
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TITLE - Pick a title that describes the content of the presentation and includes
your name, the course number, and the name of the course. This your first slide.
OBJECTIVES - The second slide is a description of the purpose of the
presentation or a listing of the objectives and should indicate your target audience.
This is your second slide.
ORGANIZATION/OUTLINE - Major topics and information should be presented
in a clear way that is easy to understand.
SLIDES - The content of your slides should be scholarly and reflect an
appropriate degree of research; presentation should include 20-25 slides of
content not including slides for title, objectives, or references. In total, you
should have no less than 25 slides.
CLIPART/GRAPHICS - Clipart or graphics should be used when appropriate to
help illustrate the content of the slide and should serve a purpose.
SCREEN DESIGN -Should be creative, readable, use of color, animation, or
other special effects should enhance the presentation.
ORIGINALITY - Topic selection and content of slides should be original
material; topic should be interesting to you and your intended audience.
REFERENCES - Follow APA format and in last slide of presentation; should be
adequate quantity of references to cover topic.
Your presentation will be graded on the above criteria. To begin thinking of a topic area,
students in the past have also found it helpful to review the abstracts at the websites of
distinguished journals appropriate for the topic. The most important factor in choosing a
topic should be that it is in an area of disease transmission that interests you.
As a guideline when you begin working on your presentation, keep track of any
references and images and make copies of anything that seems particularly useful to you.
The Internet is a great place for information, and I encourage you to include links to
useful www sites within your final references. Whenever possible, you should also cite
scholarly journals and texts. In addition, all images used should have captions and
citations giving credit to their source.
You need to present the topic to your instructor in writing prior to the 8th week of class.
Grade Determination:
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Module Study Questions - 120 points
Module Exercises/Activities - 120 points
Module Quizzes - 110 points
Mid-term exam - 150 points
Final exam - 200 point
PPT presentation - 150 points
Total = 850 points
References/Bibliography:
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CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report. Web site: www.cdc.gov/mmwr
Public Health Service-Healthy People 2101. Web site:
www.healthypeople.gov
PROMED. Web site: www.promed.org
National Association of County and City Health Officials. Web site:
www.naccho.org
National Institutes of Health. Web site: www.nih.org
The American Journal of Public Health
Special Technology Utilized by Students:
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Microsoft PowerPoint
EXPECTATIONS FOR ACADEMIC CONDUCT/PLAGIARISM POLICY
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Academic Conduct Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Student Handbook
It is the philosophy of the University of West Florida that academic dishonesty is
a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any
form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in
accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include
suspension or expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but
is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any
work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person,
taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair
advantage to a student, or the attempt to commit such acts.
In addition, any behavior that interferes with the conduct of a class is classified
as disruptive behavior and will not be tolerated.
Since we take Academic Integrity very seriously, you will need to submit a
statement before each Exam that the work you are submitting is your own and
that you did not give not receive any unauthorized aid and you are following the
rules of the Exam.
You are required to take the UWF Library Plagiarism Tutorial and receive a
100% on the Plagiarism Quiz (continue to take the quiz until you receive a 100%)
and forward the confirmation of that to me. The consequences of plagiarism are
usually suspension and a permanent mark on your academic record which will
haunt you for the rest of your academic and professional life.
ASSISTANCE
Students with special needs who require specific examination-related or other
course-related accommodations should contact Disabled Student Services
(DSS), dss@uwf.edu, 850.474.2387. DSS will provide the student with a letter
for the instructor that will specify any recommended accommodations.
Every effort will be made to accommodate the special needs of disabled
students. Please inform the instructor privately during the first week of class to
indicate your particular needs. All such accommodations are officially arranged
through the Office for Disabled Student Services and a letter from this office must
accompany your request.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
This course is reviewed during the semester and in an ongoing basis for quality
by assessment personnel within the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences
(SAHLS) to meet national standards established by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools, the Council on Education for Public Health, and/or to
address quality enhancement initiatives of SAHLS. Student feedback is also vital
to this process. When reviewing our programs, our accrediting partners expect to
see 100% participation in the State-of-Florida mandated SUSSAI (State
University System Student Assessment of Instruction) evaluations. Thus, at the
end of the semester, we need to hear from the folks that enjoyed the class and
from the folks that have suggestions for improvement. BUT, we do need to hear
from each and every student in this class, and we value your input.
When SUSSAI evaluations are ready for you to complete, you will see a News
posting in the course. Please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous,
brief web-based evaluation on this course, using these directions:
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Step 1: Log in to Argus (http://argus.uwf.edu).
Step 2: Click on the "My Info" tab.
Step 3: Click the link under the category "Personal Student Record
Access" that says "Instruction Assessment (Distance Learning)."
Need help? Contact Connie Works at 850.474.3080 or cworks@uwf.edu
Please be assured that all evaluations that are completed online are of a
confidential matter. Your name, social security number, and e-mail address will
not be revealed to your instructor, department, or college. Only one evaluation
per course per student can be submitted. Please do not delay completing the
evaluation when the time approaches.
Due to the significance of this information, we will not be able to prerelease grades in eLearning if we are not close to the 100% participation
goal before finals week. Thank you!
Class Schedule
Module
Topic
Instructor
1
Introduction to the Class; History of
Infectious Disease
Philippart
2
Migration and Diseases
Philippart
3
Infectious Processes and Modes of
Transmission; Emergent/Re-emergent
Diseases
Lanza
4
The Ecology of Infectious Diseases;
Environmental Effect/Global Climate
Change and Infectious Diseases
Philippart
5
Development of Antibiotic Resistance
Lanza
6
Food-borne Illnesses
Lanza
7
Seasonal Variability in Host Susceptibility &
Cycles of Certain Diseases + Mid-term
Philippart
exam
8
TB/HIV/AIDS/STD’s
Lanza
9
Hospital-acquired Infections
Philippart
10
Immunizations and Vaccines
Lanza
11
Zoonotic/Arthropod-transmitted Diseases
Philippart
12
Use of Microbes for Terrorism
Lanza