in Environmental Exposures and Health
EH780 Great Calamities and their Consequences in Public Health (Spring; with Clapp)
Current public health practice in the United States evolved in response to public health calamities. Epidemics of infectious disease, mass poisonings, and industrial disasters have served as catalysts for new regulations and institutions of public health. For example, the sulfanilamide tragedy of 1937 was the catalyst for the current drug approval process. In addition, public and private responses to calamities have fueled the development of scientific knowledge and epidemiologic methods. For example, John Snow's investigation of the London cholera outbreak of 1854 demonstrated the utility of observational epidemiology. This course acquaints students with those calamities of primarily the past 200 years that were most consequential for public health practice. The emphasis is on each calamity's impact on knowledge of disease causation and control and on the development of public health institutions and regulations.
Outline of Course (from Spring 2006--topics may vary somewhat year to year)
- Course overview and Infectious Diseases I: Cholera
- Infectious Diseases II: Influenza and the Influenza Pandemic of 1918
- Infectious Disease III: Avian Flu
- Infectious Disease IV: Typhoid and Yellow Fevers
- Food-borne Disaster: Mad Cow Disease
- Industrial disasters I: Dioxins and PCBs
- Industrial disasters II: The Bhopal Union Carbide Explosion
- Industrial disasters III: Chernobyl and mass exposure to ionizing radiation
- Industrial disasters IV: Killer smogs and air pollution
- Drug-related disasters
- Extreme Weather Events: Hurricane Katrina
- Mercury
- Students Presentations
Course requirements:
- Participation in three "structured controversies" in which are divided into groups to discuss various topics, e.g., when should the university be closed during an influenza pandemic?
- Term paper and presentation on a public health calamity not discussed in class
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