It’s flu season. Have you been vaccinated? Many of us choose this option because it makes sense to us personally; we prefer to avoid illness wherever possible! Have you had your child between the ages of 6 months and 18 years immunized, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)? That question may cause you to pause.

There are two sides to this coin. In addition to the side representing personal choice, there is the side representing public health. When we all get vaccinated we contribute positively to the public health. The virtual elimination of polio is an excellent example. Beyond the obvious risks of hospitalization and death, influenza causes lost hours at the workplace and in schools and costs everyone in terms of medical expenses leading, in a domino effect, to increased insurance costs among others. Can a balance be struck between personal freedom and public health?

There is a larger discussion around this issue. Like most other states, Ohio requires schoolchildren to be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and hepatitis B. As many as 24 states require or are considering requiring all middle school-aged girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), one cause of some cervical cancers. And New Jersey is now mandating schoolchildren be vaccinated against the flu. See this NYtimes.com article for more. And this page from the CDC provides comprehensive information regarding vaccinations: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/

Parents are inundated with advertisements directing them to have their child immunized against a host of diseases. Where does one draw the line? How many vaccines are too many? Autism is suspected of being caused by some vaccinations administered in infancy. Several studies fail to confirm this hypothesis, but the notion persists among the public. Is that due to low scientific literacy among parents, poor public policy in communicating facts to parents, or deep emotional reactions that no scientific fact can alter? Probably a combination of all three. As classroom teachers, we can use our influence and expertise to help students begin to understand the science so they can make well informed personal decisions and influence public policy later in life.

How to Turn This News Event into an Inquiry-Based, Standards-Related Science Lesson

This lesson connects to the Science as Inquiry, Life Science, and Science in Personal and Social Perspectives content standards of the National Science Education Standards. As students grow in their understandings of the nature of science and how science is done, they begin to understand the reliability of science as well as its tentativeness. This understanding allows them to consider the issue of immunizations, personal freedom and public health through the lens of science. At the same time, they must have good working knowledge of the characteristics of living systems, what a vaccine is and what influenza is.

Ask students if they have ever had the flu. How do they know? What did they do about it? Is it something they would like to repeat? Could it have been prevented? Why do we have to get a shot every year? Why isn’t one enough, as it is for other diseases? Be prepared for misconceptions including “the stomach flu.” It’s not necessary to correct students at this point. Have students do some independent research on what a virus is, what influenza is, and what a vaccine is. This could be done in jigsaw groups, or you could provide all students with age-appropriate explanations and visual representations. You might recount to them the real dangers of some flu strains, like the Spanish flu of World War I.

Here are additional resources from the National Science Digital Library Middle School Portal related to influenza and viruses: What’s Making You Sick?; The Big Picture Book of Viruses; How Lou Got the Flu; and PBS Online — American Experience: Influenza 1918

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We want and need your ideas, suggestions, and observations. What would you like to know more about? What questions have your students asked? Do you have a favorite activity that you would like to share? We invite you to share with us and other readers by posting your comments. Please check back each week for our newest post or download the RSS feed for this blog. You can also request email notification when new content is posted (see right navigation bar).

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