MedInTO Medicine and Surgery

Microbiology

Microbiology

Academic year 2021/2022

Sommario del corso

• Course objectives
• Results of learning outcomes
• Course delivery
• Learning assessment methods
• Support activities
• Program
• Suggested textbooks and readings
• Notes
• Teaching tools

Course objectives

This course covers principles of medical microbiology with emphasis on microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa) and human infectious disease. Topics include an overview of microbial structures and virulence factors, the host-parasite interactions, the pathogenic mechanisms of the most important infectious diseases, the principal concepts regarding sterilization, microbiological diagnosis, antibiotic and antiviral therapy, the conditions promoting the rise up of infections and the prevention options.

Results of learning outcomes

By the end of this course, the student will have acquired basic knowledge of the pathogenesis of microbial and virus infections to be able to implement a rational approach to the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. The student shall learn the basic knowledge in the following topics:

• General features of bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology  
• Pathogenicity, virulence, and epidemiology
• Disease transmission and physical and chemical microbial control
• Microbiological diagnostic techniques
• Antimicrobial therapy
• Common bacterial, fungal, protozoa and viral diseases

Course delivery

Classes will be held on campus. For those of you who are exempted from attending in person, pre-recorded lessons will be made available  (https://elearning.unito.it/medicina/course/view.php?id=8048) according to the timetable.

The 84 hours of the course will be split in theoretical lessons and practical training. Practical training and supplementary materials will be provided online.

At the end of some lessons, the understanding skills and self-assessment of student’s preparation will be evaluated by the use of an interactive learning platform.

Attendance will be mandatory. 

Learning assessment methods

Exams will take place as oral examinations face to face and/or online via Webex. At the time of registration for the exam, the student is required to specify the request to take the exam online and the reasons for this request. 

The exam will be aimed at verifying the knowledge, the ability to discursively organize the knowledge, the quality of exposition and the competence in the use of specialized vocabulary.

The mark will be expressed in thirtieths.

Support activities

Students with disorders that may affect learning (e.g. colour blind students, visually impaired, hearing impaired, dyslexic or with physical disabilities) are encouraged to contact the lecturers to adapt learning materials, activities and testing methods.

Program

• Introduction to Medical Microbiology:
  • History of microbiology
  • Koch's postulates
  • Classification of microbes

• General Bacteriology:
  • Structure
  • Endospore
  • Human microbiome and concept of opportunism
  • Virulence factors
  • Microbial growth
  • Laboratory diagnosis of bacterial diseases
  • Methods of Sterilization
  • Antibiotics

• Systematic Bacteriology:
  • Staphylococcus
  • Streptococcus
  • Bacillus
  • Listeria
  • Mycobacterium
  • Neisseria
  • Haemophilus
  • Legionella
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Yersinia
  • Vibrio
  • Pseudomonas
  • Campylobacter and Helicobacter
  • Clostridium
  • Spirochetes (Treponema, Borrelia, Leptospira)
  • Brucella
  • Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma
  • Rickettsia, Ehrlichia
  • Clamydia
  • Bordetella

• Mycology:
  • Structure, replication, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis of fungal disease and antifungal agents
  • Superficial, cutaneous, subcutaneous and systemic mycoses
  • Opportunistic mycoses (Candida, Criptococcus, Aspergillus and Pneumocystis)

• Parasitology:
  • Parasitic classification, structure, replication, pathogenesis of parasitic diseases, laboratory diagnosis and antiparasitic agents
  • Intestinal protozoa (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba)
  • Urogenital protozoa (Trichomonas)
  • Blood and tissue protozoa (Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Leishmania, Trypanosoma)

• General virology:
  • Structure
  • Classification
  • Replication mechanisms
  • Laboratory diagnosis of viral diseases
  • Antiviral chemotherapy

• Systematic virology:
  • Herpesviruses
  • Papillomaviruses and Polyomaviruses
  • Adenoviruses
  • Poxviruses
  • Parvoviruses
  • Paramyxoviruses
  • Rhabdoviruses
  • Arenaviruses and Bunyaviruses
  • Orthomyxoviruses
  • Retroviruses
  • Reoviruses
  • Caliciviruses
  • Togaviruses
  • Picornaviruses
  • Hepatitis Viruses
  • Flaviviruses
  • Coronaviruses
  • Filoviruses

You can access freely also the following online textbook that we recommend:

• Jawetz, Ernest Jawetz Melnick & Adelbergs Medical Microbiology McGraw-Hill 2019
  http://bibliopass.unito.it/login?url=https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=2629  

Note

 Please contact us (david.lembo@unito.it; manuela.donalisio@unito.it; andrea.civra@unito.it) if in doubt or in need of further explanation.

Webex meetings may be organized in our virtual rooms (https://unito.webex.com/meet/david.lembo; https://unito.webex.com/meet/manuela.donalisio; https://unito.webex.com/meet/andrea.civra) to answer any doubts and provide the required explanations.

• Teaching materials
• Exams and finals
• Go to Moodle
• Visit the forums