The roles of microorganisms in infectious disease will be examined in detail. The microbial interaction with its host will be explored and the distinction between normal flora and pathogens highlighted. Special attention will be paid to virulence, attenuation and host defences. The activity of the microbiologist in medicine will be clearly defined. Several traditional and modern methods to identify causal agents of disease will be covered. Students will be exposed to epidemiology and public health microbiology with a view following how a pathogen spreads from an infected individual to others in a population. Lectures will be supplemented by case studies wherever possible.
