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CDC graphic novel teaches kids about variant flu, epidemiology
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Young sleuths assist officers from the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service in understanding how their friend Eddie became ill after attending an agricultural fair in a new graphic novel created by the CDC, USDA and 4-H. The story stresses the dangers of variant influenza while discussing the importance of the role of the CDC in understanding infectious diseases and preventing possible outbreaks.
“We wanted to find a way of reaching younger audiences because we knew that the CDC website did not reach kids in the same way that other media that targeted younger audiences might,” Douglas Jordan, MA, project lead and co-author of The Junior Disease Detectives: Operation Outbreak, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “We wanted to have a product that could reach and educate this market, but also be fun and teach them not only about infectious diseases and variant flu, but also what it is like to work at the CDC, what it is like to be a disease detective and to get them excited about this subject matter.”
Jordan and colleagues were inspired by the increasing number of variant cases of influenza that began to peak in 2012, 3 years after the H1N1 pandemic. He told Infectious Diseases in Children that 309 variant cases were reported in 2012, with most cases associated with younger children attending agricultural fairs.
According to the CDC, variant influenza is a term used to describe human infections with influenza viruses that normally circulate in swine. These infections can be dangerous in humans because influenza vaccines are not normally expected to protect against these strains. Additionally, pigs can also be infected with multiple strains of influenza from different species at the same time that can combine in the pig’s body. This process, known as reassortment, was responsible for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain: a quadruple reassortment virus containing genes from North American and Eurasian pigs, birds and humans.
“We want kids to know that flu viruses do not only spread from infected pigs to humans, but they can also spread from infected humans to pigs,” Jordan said. “People have to be careful when they are sick not to be around pigs because human influenza viruses can mix with swine influenza viruses in the body of the pig through a process called reassortment. Reassortment can result in the emergence of a new influenza virus that has genes from both viruses.”
Once variant influenza is suspected, both Eddie and Hamlet — his show pig — recover. The children then discuss the lessons learned from this process and reiterate some of the CDC’s prevention methods, including avoiding close contact with pigs that look or act ill and washing hands often with soap and running water.
Through their Science Ambassador Fellowship program, the CDC has developed classroom activities, which have been created with the assistance of teachers throughout the country. Once these activities are released on the CDC website, they can be used for students in kindergarten up through grade 12 to educate people who may encounter pigs and to inspire a new generation of public health officials.
“We need more people working in public health,” Jordan said. “We want to inspire kids from a young age to want to take jobs in science, epidemiology as well as public and animal health. Research has shown that the earlier you reach kids, the more likely it is that you can get them interested and have them pursue careers in these fields later in life. [With the graphic novel], people can more broadly understand this topic and reduce the spread of influenza viruses between people and animals.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosure: Jordan is an employee of the CDC.
References:
CDC: Influenza - Key Facts about Human Infections with Variant Viruses. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/keyfacts-variant.htm. Accessed: August 13, 2018.
CDC: Influenza - Take Action to Prevent the Spread of Flu Between Pigs and People. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/variant/preventspreadfactsheet.htm. Accessed: August 13, 2018.
CDC: Influenza - The Junior Disease Detectives: Operation Outbreak Graphic Novel. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/resource-center/freeresources/graphic-novel/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fflu%2Fgraphicnovel%2Findex.html. Accessed: August 13, 2018.