Introduction

Most people on Earth experience at least one episode of an infectious disease every year. Although the majority recover, hundreds of millions suffer severe or long-term health effects as a direct result of an infection and around 10 million people – many of them children – lose their lives. In the 1960s, it was widely believed that the threat to health from infectious diseases would be overcome by advances in methods of prevention and treatment. Unfortunately these predictions have proved to be optimistic because of the rapidly increasing threat from ‘emerging infectious diseases’.

This first session of the course presents an overview of infectious diseases and discusses emerging infectious diseases.

In the following video, Dr Claire Rostron, Senior Lecturer in Health Sciences at The Open University, and one of the course authors, will introduce some exciting concepts to be covered in the course.

Transcript

Before you start, The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations of the course. Your input will help to further improve the online learning experience. If you’d like to help, and if you haven't done so already, please fill in this optional survey.