Professional epidemiologists are often called on to investigate outbreaks and epidemics. This course serves as an introduction to the essentials of investigation, identifying pathogens, figuring out what's going on, reporting, and responding. You'll learn how to ask precise epidemiologic questions and apply epidemiologic tools to uncover the answers. You'll also learn about basic epidemic dynamics and the terrible law that cause them to grow, as well as the reasons why they recede and eventually go away. The course concludes with deep dives into some real outbreaks from Ebola, in West Africa, to the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Outbreaks and Epidemics
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Outbreaks and Epidemics
This course is part of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization
Instructor: Justin Lessler, PhD, MS
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777 reviews
Beginner level
No prior experience required
Flexible schedule
5 hours to complete
Learn at your own pace
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What you'll learn
Apply methods to weigh evidence and calculate measures
Discuss outbreaks and the key epidemiologic tools used during investigation
Apply basic epidemic dynamics to the analysis of outbreaks
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Assessments
4 assignments
Taught in English
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This course is part of the Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization
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JO
Reviewed on Mar 21, 2020
Great course covering some excellent cases. In particular, it introduced a number of calculations to understand and predict outbreaks.
AA
Reviewed on Jan 14, 2021
This is a very relevant course (especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic) and neatly illustrates the conceptual components of an outbreak investigation and an epidemic study.
CW
Reviewed on May 7, 2020
A very interesting and useful course!I wish that there were "official" answers to the exercises, but I thought everything else was great!
