University of Technology Sydney

91330 Epidemiology and Public Health Microbiology

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2021 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Science: Life Sciences
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): 91161 Cell Biology and Genetics

Description

Infectious diseases have had an enormous impact on human civilisation, killing more people than all wars combined. The current COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact upon our society and the way we interact. Maintaining public health is a major challenge for governments. Everything from social distancing, deciding what organisms to vaccinate against, to providing safe food and drinking water falls under the purview of public health. Epidemiology is the study of such diseases in populations.

In this subject students learn about microbes of public health importance and basic epidemiological principles. The subject covers how microbes have affected human population development, from pandemics to the common cold. It examines a range of pathogens of public health interest including food, water and airborne diseases and the importance of public health measures including vaccinations. The subject develops skills in measuring and identifying bacterial contamination of food and water. Students learn basic epidemiological principles such as tracing disease outbreaks, measures of disease frequency (rates and risk factors) and the impact of control measures and interventions such as hygiene, sanitation and vaccination programs.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. Identify and evaluate infections of public health significance at the theoretical level and as a practical skill, including– the features, course, outcomes, consequences and the organisms responsible.
2. Describe and explain the mechanisms of pathogenesis possessed by bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens.
3. Describe and explain epidemiological principles as pertaining to infection.
4. Evaluate measures against infection – assessing both the strengths and limitations of methodologies used in investigating infection outbreaks, and the efficacy of interventions.
5. Conduct and interpret basic statistics pertinent to epidemiology to evaluate transmission and infection outbreaks, risk factors, laboratory and questionnaire investigations and statistical associations, to ascertain what happened, when and why.
6. Critically analyse scientific literature, government and social websites and creatively apply communication skills to educate the general population on a microbiological public health issue.
7. Apply biological techniques and experimental design to test hypotheses, analyse results and communicate findings about investigations of food poisoning outbreaks of public health significance.

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:

  • Apply: Use contemporary technologies for the collection and analysis of data and apply evidence-based practice at all levels of laboratory investigation. (1.1)
  • Analyse: Inspect and understand normal physiology and how it differs during disease processes. (1.2)
  • Synthesise: Adapt disciplinary skills and techniques to other disciplines and other areas of study, in particular, the specialisations of cellular pathology, microbiology, and host responses or biochemistry and molecular diagnostics. (1.3)
  • Apply: Employ robust scientific method in the investigation of disease and undertake laboratory work based on world best practice. (2.1)
  • Synthesise: Critically discriminate facts to synthesise significant findings from a range of data types. (2.3)
  • Apply: Demonstrate familiarity in established techniques, while also having an awareness of new technologies and modern instrumentation, considering the appropriate quality control measures at all stages of the diagnostic process. (3.1)
  • Analyse: Engage in work practices that demonstrate an understanding of health and safety requirements, good ethical conduct, risk management, organisation skills, record keeping and the regulatory framework of specific laboratory, especially in relation to specialised discipline areas. (3.2)
  • Synthesise: Articulate the role of science within a global culture and explain complex issues where the methods and findings of science are relevant. (3.3)
  • Analyse: Demonstrate creative and lateral thinking within a structured discipline by extending the principles of biomedical science to a broader context. (4.2)
  • Apply: Use a variety of tools, such as written reports, oral and visual presentations, graphical or statistical analysis in both lay and professional settings. (5.1)
  • Analyse: Recognize the audience and be able to communicate with a diversity of audiences by accurately using plain, professional, and where necessary, specialist language in the communication of ideas. (5.2)
  • Synthesise: Develop the capacity to disseminate scientific information in the most appropriate manner in a variety of professional contexts. (5.3)

Contribution to the development of graduate attributes

Epidemiology and Public Health Microbiology is a stage 4 subject in the Bachelor of Science (Biomedical Science), (Biotechnology) and (Medical Science) degrees, which builds on General Microbiology and complements Parasitology and Clinical Bacteriology in the 3rd year of the Biomedical Science degree. The faculty of science lists six graduate attributes that you will develop during your course at UTS. This subject is intended to help you develop these five attributes:

1. Disciplinary knowledge

  1. The principles of epidemiology, public health measures and the pathogenesis and influence of major infectious diseases on public health will be learned through lectures, tutorials, practical classes (pracs) and your own self-directed learning. These concepts are assessed in your disease investigation portfolio (1) and the final theory exam (3).
  2. Bench-skills in microbiology are an important element of the practical application of the theoretical disciplinary knowledge. You will learn essential practical disciplinary knowledge through hands-on practicals and this is assessed in assessment task 1 practical assessment. The subject will use and develop skills in being organized at the bench, in aseptic bench manipulations, inoculations, dilutions, plate and rapid microbiological test interpretation, and the set-up and interpretation of phenotypic identification methods. Proper and safe work practices in a microbiology laboratory are stressed throughout by instruction and monitoring.

2. Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking:

  1. An inquiry based and critical thinking approach is fostered in lectures, tutorials and practicals by frequent informal Q & A sessions that are designed to encourage you to use the facts and data you have generated to infer relationships and come to understandings and interpretations based on these facts and what they signify. This will be assessed in task 1 through your disease investigation and report writing. In task 2 through your tutorial presentation, which will encourage enquiry and critical thinking around the chosen topic and how to convey your message to the public and in taks 3 where you will critical evaluate questions and disease scenarios.

3. Professional, Ethical and Social Responsibility

  1. During practical classes, you will develop laboratory competencies in microbiology and disease investigation. Your competencies will be assessed by your demonstrator (as part of task 1).
  2. Science is a collaborative undertaking and learning ethical and social responsibility within a professional context is essential. Time management skills, organisation skills, teamwork skills, laboratory skills, data handling, quantitative and graphical literacy skills will all be fostered in practical and tutorial group work. They will be formally assessed in task 2 the tutorial presentation where you will develop a public health commercial and use SPARKplus to assess both your own performance and that of your group members.
  3. Communication skills: You will verbally present results in prac class and in a group project develop and deliver an education campaign, in the form of a TV commercial, for the general public about a chosen public health issue. These projects use, and will develop, oral presentation skills – and may contribute to reduced presentation anxiety. This will be formally assessed in task 2 the tutorial presentation. You will hone the professional skills of written communication and numerical literacy via practical reports and contributing to class results. The practical reports also necessitate an enquiry-oriented approach to seek out of information and its use in the interpretation of practical case studies. This will be assessed in the written practical report. Tutorials will include tuition on calculations and numerical skills and competency will be determined in assessment task 1, 2 and 3.

4. Reflection, Innovation, Creativity

  1. Communication skills: You will verbally present results in prac class and in a group project develop and deliver an education campaign, in the form of a TV commercial, for the general public about a chosen public health issue. The commercial will be assessed on its innovation and creativity and capacity to get its message across.
  2. The ability to make effective judgments on your own work and that of your peers will be developed via the group tutorial project to develop TV commercial aimed at the general public. In assessment task 2 you will use SPARKplus to reflect upon your own performance and that of your team members. You will also be required to objectively judge and provide feedback on the quality of the presentations developed by your team and others in your tutorial group.

5. Communication

  1. Written scientific communication skills will be developed through the process of writing a report of a public health outbreak including the results from tests undertaken in practical classes and the interpretation of epidemiological data. These skills will be developed through the practical classes, including tutorials on effective communication and how to write a scientific report. This will be assessed in tasks 1 and 3 the practical assessment, the marking criteria will be provided in practical classes
  2. Verbal communication skills will be developed through the process of developing and presenting an advertisement to inform the public of a disease of public health significance. You will also present the results of your laboratory findings to classmates and discuss the implications of these findings. This will be formally assessed in task 2 the tutorial presentation.

Teaching and learning strategies

Lectures – 1-hour per week. You will be provided with lecture notes and often with pre-lecture material, including videos, papers and public health reports to be read and discussed in the weekly lecture or tutorial. You are encouraged to ask questions and attempt the case studies and questions that accompany each lecture, most of these are provided in your tutorial book, any additions will be posted online.

Practicals – 3 practicals per week 6 hours total for 5 weeks with discussion of the practical material to be included at the completion of each practical. You are encouraged to read your practical notes and prepare for class before each practical session, in order to maximise your learning potential in each class. In each practical you will undertake hands on laboratory work together in groups and present your results to the class. This will involve learning and implementing the methodology required to investigate food poisoning outbreaks, assessment of the bacterial contamination in Sydney water sources and effectiveness of cleaning regimes. Teaching Associates in class will help you develop practical and inquiry skills, demonstrating new microbiological techniques and discussing with you your interpretation of your data.

Tutorial - 1-hour per week. You will have the opportunity to discuss the material provided in lectures, online and in the tutorial workbook. You will also use this time to develop, in groups, an advertisement to help educate the general public on an infectious disease related public health issue. Time will be provided in class to discuss your chosen topic and your preferred method of delivery with your tutor. As a group you will discuss your work with the class, present your advertisement and receive feedback from other students in your group, from other students in your class and from your tutor.

CANVAS will be used to distribute lecture downloads and other content guides such as group data for practical reports, and for email contact with everyone enrolled in the class.

Content (topics)

You will begin with an introduction to epidemiology, what it is, key terms used to describe epidemiological principals and how epidemiology relates to public health. The course will focus on the microbiological diseases of public health interest. The mechanisms of pathogenesis of diseases that cause public health problems including, but not limited to; COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis, Influenza, Cholera and Salmonella will be discussed. Lecture and tutorial material will be complemented with practical classes that will examine known outbreaks of food poisonings, including determining the causative agents and identifying the likely method of spread. You will write up components of these experiments as part of your Investigation portfolio, culminating in the written investigation report. The importance of vaccinations and their impact on public health will be addressed. Basic epidemiological statistics will be taught. Some of the major groups of infectious diseases and how they cause infection will be discussed including aerosol spread, vector transmitted diseases, blood-borne infections, zoonotic infections, water borne infections and emerging diseases. The impact of pandemics on human civilisation and the threat posed by SARS-CoV-2 will be discussed. The subject will provide the students with a taste for the fascinating world of public health and the importance of microbes in shaping the development of our world today.

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Disease Investigation Portfolio

Intent:

This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:

1. Disciplinary Knowledge

2. Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking

3. Professional, ethical and Social Responsibility

5. Communication
Objective(s):

This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s):

1, 3, 4, 5 and 7

This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s):

1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1 and 5.3

Type: Portfolio
Groupwork: Individual
Weight: 60%
Criteria:

Criteria: You will be assessed on your communication skills via correct presentation of the report and correct use of English language and grammar. Your disciplinary knowledge will be assessed via your description and interpretation of your results and your practical competencies. Your professional ethical and social responsibility will be assessed via your correct use of statistics, and analysis of generated data, as well as your preparation of your work with adherence to guidelines on report writing (available in your prac manual, these will be discussed in class also). Your use of research, inquiry and critical thinking will investigate evidence and interpret your data within the scope of published literature. Your written communication skills will be assessed by your correct use of English language and grammar.

Assessment task 2: Group Presentation

Intent:

This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:

  1. Disciplinary knowledge
  2. Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking:
  3. Professional, Ethical and Social Responsibility
  4. Reflection, Innovation, Creativity
  5. Communication
Objective(s):

This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s):

1, 2, 3 and 6

This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s):

1.1, 1.2, 2.3, 3.3, 4.2 and 5.2

Type: Presentation
Groupwork: Group, group and individually assessed
Weight: 20%
Criteria:

Criteria: This task builds on and will assess multiple graduate attributes, you will use disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate application to chose, research and effectively communicate the topic. It will require an enquiry-oriented approach and the utilization of a range of professional skills including the epidemiological skills developed in this course to develop the media presentation. You will be asked to reflect on your involvement and make judgments about your own work and that of your colleagues. This tasks directly engages with the needs of society to highlight a microbiology issue of pubic health significance. It will test your communication skills and your ability to work creatively and to develop and present an innovative education campaign to the general public. Your written communication skills will be assessed by your correct use of English language and grammar.

Assessment task 3: Final Examination

Intent:

This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:

1. Disciplinary Knowledge

2. Research, inquiry and critical thinking

5. Communication
Objective(s):

This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s):

1, 2, 3 and 5

This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s):

1.1, 1.3, 2.1, 2.3 and 5.1

Type: Examination
Groupwork: Individual
Weight: 20%
Criteria:

Criteria: You will be assessed on your disciplinary knowledge and enquiry-orientated approach to analyse and interpret the information given and provide appropriate and comprehensive answers including calculations, to the questions asked. Your analytical and professional skills will be assessed by your capacity to analyse and interpret the microbiological data and case study information provided and by your correct use of statistics.

Minimum requirements

All assessments must be completed to pass the subject.
You are expected to attend all zoom lectures in this subject and to listen to the online lectures provided in your own time.
You are expected to attend all the practical classes and tutorials during the semester.

Any assessment task worth 40% or more requires that you gain at least 40% of the mark for that task. If 40% is not reached, an X grade fail may be awarded for the subject, irrespective of an overall mark greater than 50.


Official communication is done only via UTS emails and you are expected to check regularly your emails as well as the discussion board of this subject.

Required texts

To date, no one text suffices for Epidemiology and Public Health Microbiology. Students are recommended to read widely in the subject, as all texts on epidemiology and clinical microbiology will have information pertinent to an understanding of the epidemiology of infection.

A valuable resource is the book: Foodborne Microorganisms of Public Health Significance by Hocking, A.D. et al. published by the Australian Institute of Food Sciences and Technology is a valuable learning resource in an applied area of public health microbiology. (Copies of this book will be on reserve in the library).

Other good resources for Australian infectious disease epidemiology are: Communicable Diseases Intelligence (from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing): http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-pubs-cdi-cdiintro.htm?

The Public Health Bulletin from the NSW Ministry of Health serves the NSW public health community: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/phb/?

For international perspectives on infectious diseases and especially on outbreaks, the best source is Promed Mail: http://www.promedmail.org/

References

McIver CJ (ed.) A Compendium of Laboratory Diagnostic Methods for common and unusual Enteric Pathogens – an Australian Perspective. Aust Soc Microbiology., Melbourne 2005. (616.904 MCLV)

Bailey, N.J. Mathematical Theory of Infectious Diseases, and its applications (2nd ed). Griffin, London (1975). (614.401/1 CR)

Barrow, G.I. and Feltham, R.K.A. Cowan and Steele's Manual for the Identification of Medical Bacteria (3rd ed). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1993).(616.014 COWA)

Hobbs, B.C. and Roberts, R.J. Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene (6th ed). Edward Arnold, London (1993). (614.31 CR & 7 day)

Mausner, J.S. and Kramer, S. Epidemiology – An Introductory Text (2nd ed). W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia (1985).(614.4/30 CR & 7 day)

MacFaddin, Jean. Biochemical tests for identification of medical bacteria. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia (2000) (616.014028 MACF)

Morton, R.F., Hebel, J.R. and McCarter, R.J: A Study Guide to Epidemiology and Biostatistics (4th ed). Aspen, Gaithersburg, Maryland (1996). (614.4 MORT CR)

Varnam, A.H. and Evans, M.G. Foodbourne Pathogens – An Illustrated Text. Wolfe/Mosby Yearbook, St. Louis (1991).(576.163 VARN)

Glantz, Stanton. Primer of biostatistics (5ed). McGraw-Hill NY (2002).(610.72 GLAN (ed.5))

Gordis, Leon. Epidemiology (4Ed). Saunders/Elsevier (2009).(614.4GORD)

Communicable disease epidemiology and control : a global perspective / Roger Webber (2005; 614.44 WEBB 2ed)

Other resources

Centers for Disease Control – Surveillance USA (MMWR -- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report):

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/

Communicable Disease Intelligence (Australia -- very valuable):

http://www6.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-pubs-cdi-cdiintro.htm

Promed Mail worldwide infection and outbreak surveillance (an immensely useful resource for infection epidemiology):

http://www.promedmail.org/