PCOL465

The treatment of infectious disease puts us at the crossroads of many avenues of understanding: history and principles of scientific knowledge, biology, chemistry, physiology, genetics, evolution, epidemiology, and more. Within this framework, we will learn about the drugs and therapies used to treat and prevent infection, how and why they work, and how microbes combat their effectiveness. We will learn how these drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted by both humans and microbes. Additionally, we will discuss how and why one treatment is chosen over another, side effects, contraindications, and other concerns with the use of these drugs. The overall goal of the course is to provide the student with a broad understanding of the context, mechanisms, and pharmacologic principles in which the drugs used to treat infectious disease operate.

018866