ASC3687

Medical microbiology

Next offered by distance in 2000

Mrs Diana Richards

8 points - Second semester - 4 hours of lectures and 4 hours of practical work per week - Gippsland - Prerequisites: ASC2676, ASC2687 - Prohibitions: MIC3022,GAS 3122

Objectives On completion of this subject, students will be able to demonstrate a sound undrestanding of the principles of immunology and its role in immunopathology; outline techniques used in serology; show an understanding of how microbes cause disease with particular emphasis on bacterial and viral pathogenicity; discuss the epidemiology of infectious disease; show a competency in laboratory procedures for handling and processing microbiological specimens; list and discuss diseases associated with various organ systems; show a basic understanding of chemotherapy; review aspects of biotecchnology of medical microbiological significance.

Synopsis ASC3687 (Medical microbiology) begins by introducing the fundamental principles of immunology, and then moves on to a description of common serological techniques as well as aspects of immunopathology. The principles of safety in the microbiology laboratory and the laboratory diagnosis of infectious disease are discussed followed by a study of the pathogenicity of disease causing microorganisms (in particular, bacteria and viruses) and the epidemiology of infectious disease. Infectious diseases of the organ systems including; the urogenital tract, the digestive tract, skin, respiratory tract, nervous system, blood and lymph, and liver are then covered with the laboratory identification of the pathogen being emphasised. Chemotherapy of infectious disease is approached from the point of view of the mode of action of chemotherapeutic drugs, the use of drugs in the treatment of infectious disease and the importance of drug resistance among microbes. The final topic looks at the use of biotechnology in the microbiology diagnostic laboratory.

Assessment Mid-semester test: 35% - Final examination: 35% - Practical work: 30%

Prescribed texts

Benjamini E and others Immunology: A short course Wiley-Liss, 1996
Madigan M T and others Brock: Biology of microorganisms Prentice-Hall, 1997

Recommended texts

Black J G Microbiology: Principles and applications Prentice-Hall, 1993
Davey B Immunology: A foundation text OUP, 1989
Mims C A and others Medical microbiology Mosby, 1993
Murray P R and others (eds) Manual of clinical microbiology 6th edn, American Society of Microbiology, 1995
Roitt I and others Immunology 3rd edn, Mosby, 1993
White D and Fenner F Medical virology 4th edn, Academic Press, 1994

Back to the 1999 Science Handbook