%0 Journal Article
%@ 2369-2960
%I JMIR Publications
%V 8
%N 3
%P e36006
%T Epidemiology, Secondary School Curricula, and Preparing the Next Generation for Global Citizenship
%A Basch,Charles E
%A Basch,Corey H
%+ William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Rd, Wayne, NJ, 07470, United States, 1 973 720 2603, baschc@wpunj.edu
%K COVID-19
%K epidemiology
%K secondary school
%K global citizenship
%K emerging infectious disease
%K public health
%K teaching
%K student
%K high school education
%K population health
%D 2022
%7 7.3.2022
%9 Viewpoint
%J JMIR Public Health Surveill
%G English
%X Because COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases are likely to play an increasingly important role in shaping American and global society in years to come, there is a need to prepare young people to make informed decisions in this changing global context. One way to do so is teaching and learning about basic principles of epidemiology in secondary schools. Improved understanding about the agent of infection, mechanisms of transmission, factors that increase or decrease susceptibility, place variation and environmental factors that facilitate or hinder transmission, reservoirs of infection (where the agent lives and multiplies), and when the disease is more or less likely to occur comprise the main facts about an infectious disease relevant to prevention and control. Improved understanding of these basic concepts could help future generations make informed decisions in a changing global context with emerging infectious diseases and a plethora of widely disseminated misinformation and disinformation. This viewpoint considers why learning about epidemiology in secondary school would benefit population health using COVID-19 as an illustration.
%M 35254281
%R 10.2196/36006
%U https://publichealth.jmir.org/2022/3/e36006
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/36006
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35254281