Virology

Code:

MI074237

Acronym:

VIROLG

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Health Sciences

Instance: 2019/2020 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://sigarra.up.pt/ffup/pt/ucurr_geral.ficha_uc_view?pv_ocorrencia_id=422301
Responsible unit:	Microbiology Laboratory
Course/CS Responsible:	MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MICF	162	Official Curriculum	4	-	6	39	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The aim of the curricular unit (UC) Virology is: i) to study viruses as individual biological entities and to know the mechanisms involved in virus-cell and virus-host interaction; ii) to know the general aspects of the pathogenesis of viral infections; iii) to know the diferent viral families and the viruses that cause infections in man; iv) to study the pathogenic role of these viruses, the clinical and epidemiological aspects these infections as well as  their treatment, prevention and control measures v) to know the basics of the laboratory diagnosis of viral infections.

Learning outcomes and competences

After attending the Virology UC, and as a result of the theoretical teaching the student have to:

• Identify viruses as individual biological entities and differentiate them from other infectious agents as well as understand their importance in the context of Microbiology and Human Health.
• Know the structure of the viruses and the functions of the diferent components of the viral particle.
• Know the different stages of the viral replicative cycle and the strategies of replication of RNA and DNA viruses.
• Know the various aspects of the pathogenesis of viral infections.
• Know the viral families and their viruses responsible for human infection, as well as the pathogenesis, the clinical and epidemiological aspects of these infections, their treatment, prevention and control.
• Be able to correlate the learned knowledge with the concepts acquired in other matters, like cell biology, genetics, immunology and as well pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacology (mechanism of action and identification of new antiviral molecules with antiviral action).

 As a result of the practical teaching, the student have to:

• To know the basics of the laboratory diagnosis of viral infections.
• To understand the importance and applicability of the different approaches of the viral diagnostic.
• To know the applicability of the immunofluorescence or an immunochromatography assays in the direct detection of viruses and viral antigens in clinical samples as a diagnostic approach of viral infections.
• To know how to perform and draw an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay applied to the detection of virus-specific antibodies (IgM or IgG)  and understand their importance in the diagnosis of some viral infections.
• To know how to interpret the laboratory results in the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS infection and the importance of monitoring them along the infection.
• To know how to interpret the serological markers in the diagnostic of HBV infection
• To understand  the importance of bioinformatics in virology

 

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

It is highly recommended a back-ground knowledge in General Microbiology, Immunology, Cell Biology and Genetics.

Program

Theoretical teaching

PART I - General Virology

• Introduction to the world of the Virology.
• Structure of viruses.
• Steps of the viral replication cycle and replication strategies of RNA and DNA viruses.
• General aspects of the pathogenesis of viral infections.

PART II - Study of the viral families and viruses responsible for human infection

• Family Ortomyxoviridae. Influenza viruses. Structure and replication. The evolution of influenza A viruses and the role of animal reservoirs. Emergence and pandemic potential of influenza A virus. Pandemics of the XX and XXI century. Seasonal flu and the public health impact. Seasonal flu vaccine,  recommendations and risk groups. Influenza antivirals.
• Family Paramyxoviridae. Parainfluenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, metapneumovirus, mumps virus, measles virus. The pathogenesis of infection, clinical and epidemiology aspects. The measles and mumps vaccine in the National Vaccination Program.
• Family Togaviridae. Rubella virus. Pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and epidemiology. The congenital rubella.
• Family Coronaviridae. Human coronaviruses, clinical and epidemiological aspects of infection. Animal coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) and the cross of the species barrier.
•  Family Reoviridae. Reovirus and rotavirus. The clinical importance of rotavirus and the epidemiology of infection. Vaccines for rotavirus.
• Family Caliciviridae. The norovirus and sapovirus. The important role of noroviruses as a causing agent of gastroenteritis. Clinical and epidemiological aspects of noroviruses.
• Family Astroviridae. The "old and new" astrovirus. Clinical and epidemiological aspects.
• Family Picornaviridae. Rhinoviruses, clinical and epidemiological aspects. Poliovirus, poliomielite an eradication of polio The non-polio enteroviruses. Pathogenesis, clinical aspects and epidemiology.  Aichivirus. Parechovirus.The hepatitis A virus (HAV). Clinical aspects and epidemiological considerations. The prophylaxis and prevention.
• Family Hepeviridae. Hepatitis E. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the various genotypes. The zoonotic transmission and the emergence in industrialized countries.
• Hepatitis C. Structure and replication. Genotypes and clinical implications. Epidemiological aspects. Pathogenesis of infection. Chronic hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma. Mechanisms of oncogenesis. The treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection.
• Family Hepadnaviridae. The hepatitis B virus (HBV). Structure and replication.  Epidemiological aspects of hepatitis B. Pathogenesis of infection. The evolution to chronicity and hepatocellular carcinoma. Treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection.
• The Delta virus (HDV). The co-infection and superinfection with HDV / HBV.
• Family Parvoviridae. Parvovirus B19. Clinical and epidemiological aspects. Severe complications. The bocavirus and its pathogenic role.
• Family Polyomaviridae. The "old and new" human polyomavirus. Clinical significance and epidemiological considerations.
• Family Papillomaviridae. Clinical relevance of human papillomavirus. Epidemiological aspects. HPV high and low risk. The HPV vaccines and the prevention of the cervical cancer.
• Family Adenoviridae. The adenovirus. Clinical and pidemiological aspects.
• Family Herpesviridae. HSV-1 and HSV-2. Primo infection, latency and recurrent infection. The varicella-zoster (VZV). Pathophysiology of infection. Complications. Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The infection in immunocompetent versus immunocompromised patients. The congenital infection. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and infectious mononucleosis. EBV-associated cancers. HHV-6, HHV-7 and roseola infantum. HHV-8 and Kaposi's sarcoma. The co-infection HHV-8/HIV-1. Antivirals for the treatment of herpesvirus infections.
• Family Retroviridae. The genomic organization of retroviruses. HTLV-I/II. The adult T cell leukemia and the tropical spastic paraparesis. HIV-1/2 and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The history and the origin of HIV.  Immunopathogenic aspects and dynamics of infection. Clinical and epidemiological aspects. The antiretroviral therapy: the past, present and future. The post-exposure prophylaxis.
• Human viroma: an emerging vision

Pratical teaching

• Theoretical and practical notes on laboratory diagnosis of viral infections. General considerations on the various approaches of diagnosis.
• The viral isolation and the different host systems used.
• The serological diagnosis
•  Detection of viruses or viral antigens in clinical samples as a diagnostic tool
• The detection and the quantification of viral genomes.
• Cell cultures and the viral isolation. Visualization of cytopathic effects of different viruses.
• Execution of an immunofluorescence assay and/ or an immunochromatographic assay applied to direct detection of viruses (rotavirus in stool) or viral antigens (respiratory viruses in nasopharyngeal aspirates).
• Execution of an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay applied to the detection of specific antibodies against cytomegalovirus and EBV.
• Diagnosis of HIV / AIDS infection and the role of the laboratory in the diagnosis of primary infection, screening and monitoring of seropositive patients. The importance and use of the different serologic markers (anti-HIV p24 antigen, HIV DNA, RNAHIV) at the different phases of HIV / AIDS infection.
• Diagnosis of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. The serological markers and their interpretation.
• Bioinformatics in virology. Analysis of genomic sequences of hepatitis E virus and comparison with database sequences (GenbanK). Construction of phylogenetic trees.
• Brief notes about food and environmental virology.

 

Mandatory literature

Murray Patrick R.; Medical microbiology. ISBN: 0-7234-1644-3
Fields Bernard N. 340; Fields virology. ISBN: 0-7817-0253-4
Cann Alan J.; Principles of molecular virology. ISBN: 0-12-158533-6
Barroso H &Meliço-Silvestre A&Taveira N; Microbiologia Médica Volume 2, LIDEL, 2014. ISBN: 978-972-757-576-3

Comments from the literature

In addition to this bibliography scientific articles that have been published recently on emerging themes are provided to students.

Teaching methods and learning activities

The Professor of the UC give all the classes.

• Theoreticals (1.5 hours /week)

Theoreticals are delivered according to the classical model, with master classes, using the most modern audiovisual (Powerpoint presentations). Students are challenged to question the teacher in all classes.

•  Laboratory classes (1.5 hours / week)

The laboratory classes adress mainly the laboratory diagnosis of viral infections. After a theoretical introduction to this field students will performed some laboratory work that exemplifies some of the diagnostic procedures. In order to promote a better connection with reality results from clinical cases are discussed with students.

Four laboratory classes are reserved for the presentation / discussion / evaluation of scientific papers (Journal Club) and monographs developed by the students. Due to the huge number of students attending this UC these works are developed in groups 2-3 students.

 E-LEARNING PLATFORM:

This UC has a page in the Moodle platform (project eLearning @ UP). In this platform students can find, in pdf format, all educational content (slides) presented by the Professor in the theoretical, practical and laboratoryclasses . This platform also contains monographs from students of previous years, several scientific reviews, scientific movies and also links to pages of virology on the web.

keywords

Health sciences
Health sciences

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Participação presencial	3,00
Trabalho laboratorial	27,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	93,00
Frequência das aulas	32,00
Trabalho laboratorial	10,00
Total:	135,00

Eligibility for exams

The evaluation of the UC consists of a continuos laboratory evaluation more the written final exam.

The laboratory evaluation is made along the semester and take in account: (i) class attendance and level of participation (10% contribution percentage, 2 points), (ii) the presentation and discussion of a scientific paper (30% contribution percentage, 6 points) (iii) oral presentation of a monography  (60% contribution percentage, 12 points.
For admission to the final written test the student have to be approved in laboratory component (9,5 point). The contribution percentage of the laboratory component to the final UC classification is 30%, but is expressed from 0 to 20.

The  contribution of  the written final exam is 70%, but expressed from 0 to 20. Students must obtain in the written final exam a score greater than or equal to 9.5 to be approved at the UC. There are no oral exams in ths UC.

Of note: The attendance to the laboratory classes is mandatory. Students whose attendance is below 75% of the total given classes are excluded.

 

 

Calculation formula of final grade

The final classification of the UC includes the classification of the written final exam (70% contribution percentage) plus the classification obtained in the continuous laboratory evaluation (30% contribution percentage).

When the final classification of the UC is superior to 18 points the student have to defend it in an oral exam

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

See “Normas de Avaliação” of FFUP.

Classification improvement

The improve of the final classification of the UC can be only obtained by repeating the final written test. It is not  possible to improve the classification of the laboratory evaluation.

Observations

Professor communicates with students through the Moodle platform or through the dynamic email of Sigarra 

In the first class Professor annouces the schedule of the pedagogic attendance.