Health area management

Module General Hygiene

1. Knowledge and understanding

Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• Define the core concepts of Health, Hygiene, and Public Health, distinguishing them from clinical medicine.

• Describe the natural history of diseases (both infectious and chronic) and the different levels of prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary).

• Understand epidemiological dynamics: the chain of infection, patterns of disease occurrence (sporadic, endemic, epidemic, pandemic), and environmental or behavioral risk factors.

• Identify the requirements for drinking water quality, atmospheric pollution mechanisms, and the methodologies for waste and wastewater management.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding

The student will demonstrate the ability to:

• Plan direct prophylaxis interventions (notification, isolation, disinfection) and specific measures (vaccination schedules).

• Identify the most appropriate screening strategies (secondary prevention) for various oncological and chronic pathologies.

• Apply microclimate parameters and thermal comfort indices to assess the healthiness of indoor environments.

• Calculate and interpret key epidemiological rates (incidence and prevalence) to analyze the health status of a population.

3. Making judgements

The student will develop the critical capacity to:

• Evaluate the impact of risk factors (smoking, diet, chemical and physical pollutants) on individual and community health.

• Prioritize interventions in hospital settings to prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs).

• Critically analyze air and water quality data, judging their compliance with current regulations and safety standards.

• Distinguish between scientific evidence and health myths (e.g., vaccine hesitancy) in public discourse.

4. Communication skills

The student must be able to effectively convey health information by:

• Using appropriate and rigorous technical-scientific terminology (e.g., correctly distinguishing between vehicle and vector).

• Designing clear Health Education messages to promote healthy lifestyles among the general population.

• Interacting professionally with different stakeholders during epidemiological investigations or environmental risk management.

5. Learning skills

The student will acquire the tools for continuous professional development:

• Locate and consult official sources and databases (WHO, CDC, ECDC, Ministry of Health) independently.

• Update their own competencies in response to evolving environmental regulations and new vaccination protocols.

• Research emerging threats to public health, such as climate change impacts or antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Lectures. 

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

 

Definition, basic concepts and tasks of Hygiene. Natural history of disease. Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. The role of Health Education in health advocacy.

Elements of Epidemiology: definition, characteristics and purposes.

Sources and reservoirs of infection; routes of entry and elimination of pathogens; transmission mode; diffusion rates of infectious diseases.

General prophylaxis: direct prophylaxis. Specific prophylaxis: vaccine prophylaxis. Serum and Immunoglobulin prophylaxis. Chemoprophylaxis.

Epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases in relation to the transmission mode.

Epidemiology and general prevention of non-infectious diseases: causes and risk factors. Genetic risk factors, environmental, behavioral. Modification of lifestyle. Secondary prevention.

The environment and its factors; relationships with health. Environmental pollution; bioavailability and biological amplification. Chemical hazards, the main pathological effects.

Atmospheric air. Definition. Physiological importance of the air. Physical and chemical characteristics.

Effects of atmospheric change on human health, its physical and chemical characteristics. Air pollution. Harmful effects of air pollution on the environment and humans: the immediate or short-term; distance or long term. Air pollution control.

Microclimate. Physical and chemical characteristics. Air intramural and environmental well-being. Thermoregulatory mechanisms. The indices of well-being. Pollution "indoor".

Water intended for human consumption. General. Sources of supply. The water needs. Potability requirements. Criteria to judge the potability. Correction of the organoleptic, chemical character, character bacteriological.

Noise. Noise characteristics. Health effects. Prevention of noise pollution. Italian legislation.

Radiation. Ionizing radiation. Radon. Non-ionizing radiation. Biological effects of electromagnetic fields.

Liquid waste. Definition, types of waste and their quantitative characteristics. Removal and disposal of municipal wastewater. Primary treatment, secondary, tertiary, sludge treatment.

Solid waste. Definition, classification. Collection, removal and disposal.

One text of could be chosen by student as reference text.

Igiene. Medicina preventiva e del territorio.  II edizione.   Maria Triassi  , Gabriella Aggazzotti , Margherita Ferrante. Sorbona

Igiene, medicina preventiva, sanità pubblica.  di S. Barbuti , G. M. Fara , G. Giammanco. Edises.

The evaluation of the knowledge acquired by students is carried out through

1. Ongoing written test aimed at verifying the learning of the various aspects of the subject
2. Unique Oral exam as Integrate course. Elements to be evaluated: relevance of the answers, quality of their contents, ability to connect with other topics within the program, ability to report examples, quality of technical language, and overall expressive ability.

To guarantee equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, students can request a meeting in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measure, according to the educational goals and specific needs. In this case, it is advisable to contact the CInAP (Centre for Active and Participated Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or SLD) professor of the Department where the Degree Course is included.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it

- What are the prevention tools for infectious diseases and chronic degenerative diseases?

- Provide an example of frequency and risk measures.

- What are the requirements and criteria for drinking water?