Additional Information
Level of instruction: Intermediate
Intended audience: Medical laboratory scientists, medical technologists, and technicians. This course is also appropriate for medical laboratory science students and pathology residents.
Author information: Lynda Britton, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM SM, received her BS degree in medical technology from the University of Texas at Arlington and her doctorate from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. She began her career as a bench microbiologist and worked in several states. Currently, Lynda is the Clinical Coordinator for the Medical Laboratory Sciences Program at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA. She is a professor and teaches microbiology and molecular diagnosis.
Reviewer information: Marcia Firmani, PhD, MSPH, MT(ASCP), earned a PhD in microbiology from the University of California at Berkeley. She received a Master's degree in Science in public health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, LA and a BS degree in medical technology from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Marcia has been a faculty member in the CLS departments at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, LA and at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She is currently the Director for the Medical Laboratory Sciences Programs at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Course description: Tickborne infections are the most important of vectorborne diseases in the United States (US). Because tickborne diseases are so difficult to diagnose, deaths and morbidity occur. This course will review the life cycle, geographical ranges, and identification of ticks involved in human diseases. The organisms that cause tickborne diseases will be discussed, to include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, human monotropic ehrlichiosis and granulotropic anaplasmosis, tularemia, babesiosis, southern tick-associated rash illness, tickborne relapsing fever, Colorado tick fever, and other rare and emerging tickborne diseases. Numerous case studies about tickborne diseases are also presented.
