Resistance to antibacterial agents
Ref. 96009
The origin, risks, diagnosis, epidemiology of resistance to antibacterial agents in man and livestock worldwide, as well as preventive and countermeasures, in a « one health » perspective.
- Duration: 9 weeks
- Effort: 36 hours
- Pace: ~4 hours/week
- Languages: English, french and spanish
What you will learn
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain how antibiotic resistance emerges and spreads, and its dramatic consequences.
- Describe the epidemiology of resistance in humans, animals and the environment.
- Apply laboratory methods for diagnosis and identification of antibiotic resistance.
- Follow recommendations to prevent the emergence of resistance in humans and farm animals through better control of antibiotic prescribing.
- Examine ways of replacing antibiotics or bringing new molecules of antibacterial agents onto the market.
Description
In 2016, the WHO estimated that if no action is taken, by 2050, 10 million people could die each year from antibiotic-resistant infections. This led it to declare that the emergence and spread of bacteria resistant to antibacterial agents was "a growing threat to public health worldwide, requiring action across all sectors and throughout society". The MOOC Resistance to Antibacterial Agents addresses the major public health problem of the emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria, responsible for increased morbidity and mortality of a wide range of bacterial infections.
This MOOC aims to provide basic knowledge on the origin and spread of resistance to antibacterial agents, its identification, and its consequences. It shows the epidemiology of resistance in humans, animals and the environment. It addresses the concepts to control it, in a "one health" perspective. Finally, this MOOC tries to highlight the alternatives to antibiotics, the latest molecules available and the molecules under development.
Format
The MOOC is organized in 7 chapters. Each week is composed of 4 to 6 sections. Each section includes an 8-to-10-minute video and 2 multiple-choice questions to help participants test their acquired knowledge. The videos are in English, with French, Spanish and English subtitles. All the tests are in English, Spanish and French.
🆕 13 sessions were updated in 2026.
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Prerequisites
This MOOC is aimed at undergraduate, graduate and PhD biology students, medical doctors, teachers, researchers and all those who want to learn how antibacterial agents work and how resistant strains have emerged and disseminated.
A good level of scientific knowledge is recommended to follow this MOOC (such as a bachelor of biomedical science with a background in genetics and microbiology).
Required Equipment
You will need a computer with a browser and sound, as well as a sufficient internet connection to follow the MOOC.
The use of a camera is compulsory for the examination.
Assessment and certification
To follow this course, you can choose between two options:
- The Discovery Course gives access to videos, quizzes and discussions in the forum. No badge is issued for this course. Registration is free.
- The Qualifying Course leads to a certificate. In addition to the activities of the Discovery Course, you will have to take a one-hour supervised distance learning exam, consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and obtaining 18 correct answers. The registration fee for the Qualifying Course is 150€.
Successful completion of the Qualifying Course gives you the opportunity to apply for the Institut Pasteur Online Diploma of Infectious Diseases (DNM2IP), which consists of 5 certificates to Institut Pasteur MOOCs on infectious diseases. To learn more, visit the Institut Pasteur's web page dedicated to this diploma.
Accessibility
The videos in the MOOC are all subtitled, in both English and French. Their playback speed can be accelerated or slowed down to suit your needs.
The subtitles are also grouped together in a text format for each video: these are the transcripts, accessible under each video.
Finally, more and more MOOCs also include what we call the BOOC. This is a PDF document containing all the transcripts, to which images and diagrams have been added to aid understanding. The BOOC can be downloaded.
Course plan
- C1-1 : Mode of action / Patrick Trieu-Cuot
C1-2 : Origin and biosynthesis / Didier Mazel
C1-3 : Impact on human health / François-Xavier Lescure
C1-4 : Antibiotherapy / François-Xavier Lescure
C1-5 : Compliance to antimicrobial agent / Danny de Vries
C1-6 : Veterinary use of antibiotics / Jean-Yves Madec
- C2-1 : Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and One Health / Jean-Yves Madec
C2-2 : Epidemiology and cost of bacterial resistance / Mélanie Colomb-Cotinat
C2-3 : Antibacterial resistance in the community and the hospital / Marie-Cécile Ploy
C2-4 : Epidemiology of bacterial resistance in livestock / Lucie Collineau
C2-5 : Nosocomial infections / Jean-Damien Ricard
- C3-1 : Phenotypic approaches / Asmaa Tazi
C3-2 : Genotypic approaches for AMR / Thierry Naas
C3-3 : In silico antibiogram: genomic approaches / Philippe Glaser
C3-4 : Detection of resistant bacteria : Broth dilution and automated approaches / Laurence Armand
- C4-1 : Resistance mechanisms / Claire Poyart
C4-2 : Natural versus acquired resistance / Béatrice Berçot
C4-3 : Origin of resistance genes / Patrick Trieu-Cuot
C4-4 : Transferability of resistance genes / Didier Mazel
C4-5 : Evolution of bacterial populations / Philippe Glaser
C4-6 : Intestinal microbiota and antibiotic resistance / Etienne Ruppé
- C5-1 : Role of the environment in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance / Didier Hocquet
C5-2 : AMR and climate change / Chloé Dupont
C5-3 : Role of used water in dissemination of antibiotic resistance / Charlotte Arnal
C5-4 : Impact of war and conflicts on AMR / Sabiha Yusuf Essack
- C6-1 : Antibiotics stewardship / Victoire de Lastours
C6-2 : Mastering resistance in hospitals / Solen Kerneis
C6-3 : Antimicrobial use in livestock: a social sciences perspective / Nicolas Fortané
C6-4 : Health policy in France on antibiotics resistance / Benjamin Davido
C6-5 : Modeling bacterial resistance / Lulla Opatowski
- C7-1 : Revisiting "old" molecules / Béatrice Berçot
C7-2 : New drugs and therapeutic strategies / Paola Arimondo
C7-3 : New drugs against resistant bacteria / Sonia Escaich
C7-4 : Anti-virulence strategies / Asmaa Tazi
C7-5 : Phage therapy / Laurent Debarbieux
C7-6 : CRISPR tools to study anf fight antibiotic resistance / David Bikard
Course team
Béatrice Berçot
Categories
MOOC director, Béatrice Berçot is head of the Clinical Bacteriology Laboratory of the St Louis Hospital, Paris. She is also bacteriologist, professor and member of the Team "Infection, Antimicrobials Modelling Evolution" (IAME), at Paris-Cité University.
Philippe GLASER
Categories
Director of the MOOC, Philippe Glaser, Professor at the Institut Pasteur, is heading the Ecology and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance Unit. He is an expert in bacterial genomics and evolution of antibiotic resistance.
Didier Mazel
Categories
MOOC director, Didier Mazel is head of the "Bacterial Genome Plasticity" research unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.
Pedro Dorado-Morales
Categories
Pedro, the MOOC’s community manager, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Pasteur Institute. He works on antibiotic resistance, plasmid biology, and bacterial genetics.
Organizations
This MOOC was created and directed in its first editions by Béatrice BERCOT, Didier MAZEL and Patrick TRIEU-CUOT
With the financial support of the network
License
License for the course content
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
License for the content created by course participants
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.