Antimicrobial resistance - theory and methods

The course will cover the topics related to antimicrobial resistance with basic definitions and overview on antimicrobials their use and the emergence and spread of resistance. The course will guide you through the concepts and the importance of resistance spread and dissemination and how that happens. It will show you how bacteria become resistant and which mechanisms they might use for this. And as part of the course you will also receive some training in methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and detection of specific resistance in the microbiological laboratories with the basic methods available and with focus on the obtention of good quality results which can be interpreted and used for different purposes.Additionally, it will show you how to use genomic analysis tools to analyze whole genome sequencing data to detect resistance genes (and or other genes of interest) in a simple and easy way using online tools freely available. In the new new version an additional module including detection of specific resistance mechanisms was added.

After this course you should be able to:

1. Describe the most important families of antimicrobials and mode of action
2. Understand the basic concepts of antimicrobial resistance from several perspectives (clinical, research and microbiological)
3. Enumerate and describe how bacteria can become resistant and the mechanisms that may be involved in that process
4. Describe how antimicrobial resistance emerges and spreads around the world including concepts of antimicrobial resistance transfer, selection and dissemination
5. Enumerate the methods used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST)
6. Compare dilution and diffusion methods and know the basic techniques of agar disk diffusion, broth dilution and agar dilution methods
7. Have detailed theoretical knowledge on how to perform the main methods in a laboratory
8. Know the basic concepts about analysis and interpretation of results of AST, including different breakpoints, cut-off setting and their applications.
9. Understand the importance and related concepts related to quality management and quality assurance method standardization, applied to AST
10. Relate the information obtained in this course with real cases of resistant bacteria spreading in patients, the community, animals or the environment
11. Relate the phenotypical results with results from genotyping using molecular techniques for detection of resistance mechanisms
12. Understand the concept and be able to apply genomic analysis tools used to detect resistance genes and other relevant genes from Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) data (with demonstration of selected online tools)

Disclaimer: Please note that the guidelines and methods referred or links included in these materials are updated when the videos lectures are produced and before the course is released, however these might become outdated with time.

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Syllabus

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Welcome to the course
Module A- Antimicrobial and antimicrobial action
This module is basically a welcome to the course were you can find information on the Course structure, the contents you will be learning in the next modules, the grading, and introduction to the instructors and to the teaching material.
Week 2
Module B - Antimicrobials and resistance
Antimicrobials and antimicrobial action ( includes two lectures and one quiz). Here you will learn a lot about antibiotics/ antimicrobials and you will know more about:what they are, where do they come from, what are the major groups and how can we classify them, how do they have an effect, how do they act on the bacterial cells
Week 3
Module C- Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
This module containd information about antimicrobials and the development of resistance in bacteria including causes for resistance and their mechanisms, as well as an insight in how resistance disseminates and how it can be selected.
Week 4
Module D- Interpretation
This module deals with antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the laboratory: its importance and use, descriptions of the methods and their applications and detailed descriptions of the procedures applied for the main methods.
Module E- Quality assurance
This module gives practical insight on how to interpret antimicrobial susceptibility results.
Week 5
Module F- Alternatives to AST- Genome analysis tools
This module is dedicated to Quality management and Quality assurance (QA/ Quality control (QC) procedures and use of QC strains to assure the qulaity of results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing: importance, elements and principles.
Module G- specific resistances
As alternative to the phenotypical methods, the researcher might decide to use genotypically based methods to identify genes of interest. in the lectures of this module we present the Resfinder tool which may be used to find resistance mechanisms ( genes and in the future versions also specific point mutations)from Whole genome sequences of bacteria of interest. The second Lecture is a demonstration of the My DB Finder which can be used to identify genes of interest defined by the user from Whole genome sequence data.

FAQ

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.

The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?

When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Reviews

It was really a good lectures and please I want to know about my certificate in have already purchased this course and submitted all

The documents let me know when will I get my certificate .

Though it was an intermediate course, I found it easy enough to keep up with the microbiological terminology used and the themes being explained. It was a good and informative course.

I wish to thank all the Professors and happy i took the course.Well taught.Easy explanation and made easy. New things learnt. Hope more will be conducted with the latest .

As a microbiology student, I can say that I've learned so many theoretical and practical methods involving antimicrobial resistance as well as bacteriology in general. Huge thanks to great lecturers!