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Columbia University

How Viruses Cause Disease

Columbia University via Coursera

Overview

Class Central Tips
This introductory virology course explores the interplay between viruses and their host organisms. The course begins with an overview of how infection is established in a host, then moves to a virologist's view of immune defenses.  Next we consider how the replication strategy and the host response determine the outcome of infection, such that some are short and others are of long duration. The mechanisms by which virus infections transform cells in culture are explored, a process that may lead to tumor formation in animals. We then move to a discussion of how viral infections are controlled by vaccines and antiviral drugs. After an introduction to viral evolution, we discuss the principles learned from zoonotic infections, emerging infections, and humankind's experiences with epidemic and pandemic viral infections. The course ends with an exploration of unusual infectious agents such as viroids, satellites, and prions, followed by a discussion of the causative agent of the most serious current worldwide epidemic, HIV-1.

Syllabus

Week 1
Infection basics
Entry into the host
Viral spread
Tissue invasion and tropism
Transmission and seasonality Week 2
Innate immune responses
Interferon
Sentinels and complement
Inflammation
Adaptive immunity Week 3
Viral virulence
Mechanisms of cell injury I
Mechanisms of cell injury II
Host susceptibility Week 4
Acute infections
Influenza
Poliomyelitis
Measles
Gastroenteritis
West Nile fever Week 5
Persistent infections
Persistence by modulating the adaptive response
Two persistent infections
Herpes simplex virus
Epstein-Barr virus Week 6
Transformation
RNA tumor viruses
Transforming retroviruses
DNA tumor viruses
Epiphenomena of a unique life styleWeek 7
Vaccines
How do you make a vaccine?
Inactivated vaccines
Attenuated vaccines Week 8
Antivirals
Antiviral discovery
Antiviral resistance
Other antiviral targets
HIV antivirals Week 9
Viral evolution
Drivers of evolution
Error threshold and bottlenecks
Selection
Origins of viruses Week 10
Emerging viruses
Host-virus interactions
Examples of emerging viruses
SARS and MERS
Canine parvovirus Week 11
Viroids
Satellites
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Prions Week 12
HIV and AIDS
The origin of HIV
HIV pathogenesis
An amazing but deadly virus

Taught by

Vincent Racaniello

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Reviews

4.5 rating, based on 2 reviews

Start your review of How Viruses Cause Disease

  • Tg

    Tg is taking this course right now, spending 6 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

    Best ever ! Interesting updated accessible
    Well built examples for all!
    Recommend to every student and lab technician. May you return the course to coursera. Since I really want to re enroll
  • John Smith
    44

    John Smith completed this course, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be hard.

    Extremely interesting course, one of my favorites. Sometimes the content is a bit too detailed, since you are expected to know some particular genes and acronyms. However, it's completely worth it, and the challenge is fun rather than frustrating.

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