Prevention and Therapy of Infectious Diseases
Code
21212
Academic unit
NOVA Medical School | Faculdade de Ciências Médicas
Department
Medical Bacteriology / Medical Virology
Credits
2
Teacher in charge
Profª. Doutora Aida Maria da Conceição Esteves Simões
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
1. To explain the scientific basis of therapeutic interventions against viral diseases and antiviral-drug resistance mechanisms.
2. To describe the mechanisms of action of antibiotics and associated resistance mechanisms.
3. To name antibiotic sensitivity tests and to describe their basis.
4. To perform antibiotic sensitivity tests and to read results.
5. To understand the principles of antimicrobial therapy and to discuss consequences of antibiotic misuse.
6. To describe the different types of viral licensed vaccines and their advantages and disadvantages.
7. To understand the scientific foundations of contemporary approaches used in the development and production of new vaccines.
Prerequisites
n/a
Subject matter
A. Major classes of antiviral agents in clinical use and mechanisms of action. Resistance to antiviral agents and combination therapy.
B. Major antibiotic classes and mechanisms of action. Antibiotic resistance acquisition and mechanisms.
C. Antibiotic sensitivity tests. Practical execution of antibiograms, result reading and interpretation.
D. Antimicrobial therapeutics: rational antibiotic prescription. Consequences of the use and abuse of antibiotics. Control of antibiotic resistance spread. Situation in Portugal; compared to developed countries and developing countries.
E. Current vaccines in use: live attenuated vaccines, inactivated vaccines and subunit vaccines. Principles ofvirus attenuation and inactivation. Adjuvants. National Vaccination Programme.
F. New vaccine approaches: VLPbased accines, viral and bacterial vectors. DNA vaccines. Peptide and edible vaccines.
Bibliography
Knipe D, Howley P (2013). Fields Virology. Wolters Kluwer, Philadelphia, USA, 6th Ed (vol. I)./Flint SJ, Enquist LW,Racaniello VR, Skalka AM (2009). Principles of Virology, ASM Press, Washington DC, 3rd Ed (vol. II)./Lorian V (2005). Antibiotics in laboratory medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA, 5th Ed./Zhu JD, Meng W, Wang XJ, Wang HC (2015). Broadspectrum antiviral agents. Front Microbiol. 22:517. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00517/Chan HT, Daniell H (2015). Plantmade oral vaccines against human infectious diseases Are we there yet? Plant Biotechnol J. 13:105670./Loomis RJ, Johnson PR (2015). Emerging vaccine technologies. Vaccines (Basel). 3:42947./ AshiruOredope D, Hopkins S (2015). Antimicrobial resistance: moving from professional engagement to public action. J Antimicrob Chemother. 70:292730./ Chang HH, Cohen T, Grad YH, Hanage WP, et al. (2015). Origin and proliferation of multipledrug resistance in bacterial pathogens. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 79:10116.
Teaching method
The course has a strong expository character, serving primarily to provide basic concepts and sensitize students to relevant and current issues related to the fight against viral and bacterial infections. The knowledge gained, though broad in nature, should contribute to the acquisition of a critical view on the subject, namely in what concerns the acquisition of drug resistance and the need of new drugs and vaccines. Mainly, the various specific objectives are expected to converge on the overall objective of the students being able to autonomously, understand and interpret scientific literature and formulate opinions in the area.
Evaluation method
The course has strong expository character (6 lectures, 12 hours). However, the student is led to think critically about the contents and regularly during the class, questioned and asked to formulate opinion on them. The lectures are supported by information in digital format (PowerPoints) later ceded to the students. In the laboratorial class (4 hours) students will carry out one of several susceptibility testing techniques (performed by all students). Tutorial lessons are designed to clarify questions, mainly analysis and discussion of results of tests performed in the laboratorial session and alternative tests. It is advisable to read some review articles that may contribute to the systematization of knowledge and critical analysis of relevant issues. Considering the rapid evolution of knowledge in these areas, the bibliography is updated annually. The evaluation consists of a final written exam, with multiple choice questions, covering theoretical and practical contents.