What are viruses doing inside host cells? How are they making copies of themselves? How are those copies getting out to infect other cells within us? And how are they getting out of us to infect others?  In this module, we will look at the replication strategies of different groups of viruses in humans, known as their ‘lifestyles’.

Viruses are truly parasitic microorganisms. We have seen repeatedly how receptors, on host cells, and attachment proteins, on viruses, affect which cells a virus can enter. Once inside the cell, viruses still need the cell to supply the energy and all the raw materials they need to replicate themselves, as well as the environment and much of the machinery.  In this module, we will explore the concepts of virus tissue and host range, and explore key questions around how viruses interact with host cells.

When outbreaks and pandemics start to happen, what do we hear about? It might be the symptoms. It will likely be the number of reported cases or fatalities. It might be what we are advised to do to avoid infection. And we also have a curiosity, or even a need, to find out where this virus came from. And in some cases, a major source of virus outbreaks has been other animals. In this module, we will look at virus threats from animals, known as ‘zoonotic infections’.

Antibiotics have kept us safe from bacterial infections all over the world. In situations and places that would previously have had significant mortality. However, they have their origins in, and deal with very different pathogens to antivirals. Simply because viruses have taken a completely different path and developed an incredibly effective strategy for causing viral infection in their host, making them much more difficult to treat. In this final module, we will look at the whole topic of how we prevent and control virus infections and outbreaks.