Medical Microbiology

MEDS 3024C  |  3 credit hours

Fall Semester  | Syllabus(PDF)

MWF 10:10am – 11:05am

David Askew, PhD | david.askew@uc.edu | 513-558-2395

Medical Microbiology is a branch of microbiology that is concerned with the biology of microbial pathogens and how it relates to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. How does a microbe interact with the human host? Why do some microbes cause life-threatening infections and others only mild, transient ones? What is the role of the normal microbiota? How can the understanding of a disease process impact infection control measures? This course will introduce students to the major classes of bacterial and fungal pathogens that infect humans.

The course is divided into four modules. The first module will cover fundamental concepts in microbiology that are necessary to understand how specific microbes cause disease. The subsequent three modules will go through the major bacterial and fungal pathogens that infect humans. Each module will comprise a mix of didactic lectures, hands-on laboratory exercises in microbiology, and problem-based learning in a clinical case format. Clinical cases will be directed by clinicians who are board-certified in infectious diseases or clinical laboratory diagnosis.

Illustration (right): A colony of Aspergillus fumigatus, a pathogenic mold responsible for a life-threatening pneumonia. Courtesy: K. Krishnan, D.S. Askew.

Learning Objectives

• Describe the pathogenesis of infections caused by the major bacterial and fungal pathogens
• Compare and contrast the structure of bacteria and fungi
• Describe the mechanism of action of the major classes of antibacterial and antifungal drugs
• List the principle organisms associated with infection of a specific organ system
• Correlate clinical manifestations with laboratory information to establish a diagnosis
• List the clinical, research, and allied health careers in medical microbiology

Textbook

Kenneth Ryan, C. George Ray et al (2014) Sherris Medical Microbiology, 6e, McGraw-Hill, New York
ISBN 9780-0-7-181821-6
E-Book available free at UC Health Sciences Library (access on campus or via VPN)