Webquest Assignment – Module 2

1). During the history of the smallpox eradication, there were skeptics that never believed it would
work. Are there any emerging infectious diseases of today that you think cannot be eradicated? Why do
you think this? Give at least 3 references to back up your thoughts.
An emerging infectious disease that I believe cannot be eradicated is COVID-19. I think this because
COVID-19 is a viral disease and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), only two diseases
have ever been fully eradicated (Corona, 2020). Based on a statistical analysis, Wilson and colleagues
(2021) believe it may be more feasible to eradicate COVID-19 than it was to eliminate polio, but that it
would be more difficult than it was to stamp out smallpox. However, unlike smallpox, COVID-19 does
not have an unmistakable visual presentation, making it difficult to differentiate from other illnesses
without specifically swabbing patients for COVID-19 (Heymann & Wilder-Smith, 2020). I believe that is
likely that as a global society, we will continue to move towards improved management of COVID-19 –
fewer cases, lower mortality, and fewer long-term post-infection complications, achieved through a
combination of enhanced testing, quarantining, and vaccination. Given the prevalence of the virus, the
rate at which it mutates, political resistance to vaccination in the United States, and challenges in
shipping vaccines to people who want them, I believe that the best we can hope for at this point is
containing rather than eradicating COVID-19.

2). Share one “golden nugget” of information that you learned from the SmallPox streaming video clip.
Apply that “nugget” to a concept that you have learned so far this semester in NSG 469.
A golden nugget of information that I learned from the SmallPox video is that when you have limited
resources to manage a health crisis, you need to be creative and strategic in giving treatment. For
example, to eradicate smallpox in Nigeria, the World Health Organization (WHO) used vaccination rings
to target known cases and vaccinate people in the immediate milieux of infected individuals.
In the context of NSG 469, this could mean that in a public health nurse and/or organization with a
limited budget trying to tackle a broad-reaching public health issue, perhaps start by targeting those
people most in need of services as well as those under their influence. For example, if we are trying to
reduce diagnoses and complications of type 2 diabetes, find those people who are prediabetic or at risk
for becoming so and then work with those individuals to manage their weight, eat more nutritiously,
and exercise. The coached patients would thereby be more likely to positively influence the health of
their spouses and children (as a culture of health begins in the home and with the people we interact
with most).

3). Do a google search and post some news on a current vaccine in development. What are your
thoughts on this particular vaccine?
News clip on current vaccine development: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-vaccine-
for-kids-under-5-pfizer-says-3-shots-80-effective
My thoughts on this vaccine are that if it is 80% effective in preventing severe disease in children ages 6
months to 4 years old and the data do not indicate any safety concerns for vaccination, the FDA should
authorize this vaccine. I believe that this is imperative for public good and safety because it would offer
protection for the only Americans currently ineligible for any vaccine to protect them from COVID-19
infection.
 4). Which countries did you choose and what did you learn about their healthcare and immunization
status? What issues did you identify?
The countries I chose were Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
With regards to their healthcare and immunization status, I learned that current data suggests that the
Russian Federation has a higher COVID-19 vaccination rate and lower COVID-19 mortality rate than
Ukraine. The neonatal, infant, and children under 5 years old death rates are all higher in Ukraine
compared to the Russian Federation. Issues of particular concern in Ukraine include that only 57% of the
population have effective tuberculosis treatment. Additionally, only 57% of Ukrainians with HIV have
adequate antiretroviral medicine available. Issues of particular concern in the Russian Federation
include that only about 61% of citizens use safely managed sanitation services and that only 68% of
people have adequate TB treatment.

5). From the WHO link, explore one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Share what you
learned from this site.
I chose to focus on MDG Target 4.A, “Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five
mortality rate.” I learned that, while the rate decreased by 49% between 1990 and 2014, projections
suggested that it was unlikely that the rate would drop by 67% overall by 2015. A reduction of almost
50% in 25 years is considerable progress, yet we must continue to work to reduce the number of
children dying of preventable causes to as close to zero as possible.

6). The video (listed under films - scroll down) link (Links to an external site.) talks about knowledge and
communication in a Global Alert and Global Response. Do you think we are improving in our ability to
prevent diseases through GAR? What are the challenges that remain? (There have been some difficulties
in getting the video to play. If this happens, please respond to the question as completely as you can
using the other resources).
Based on my research, it is not readily clear what quantifiable impact GOARN has had on our ability to
prevent disease. On their website, GOARN self-reports that they have sent public health experts to more
than 90 countries to respond to over 130 public health crises. It is impossible to say for certain what the
health outcomes would have been in those situations if GOARN had not provided resources and
assistance, because we only have historical data on what took place. It makes sense that their skilled
interventions reduced morbidity and mortality among those targeted populations.
Challenges that remain include reaching those in crisis in a timely fashion, navigating political and safety
barriers to give care to the afflicted communities, and triaging limited resources to the highest need
health disasters globally.

7). Which weblink did you select and what did you learn about opportunities? How could nurses be
utilized in any of these global health initiatives? How could JMU better prepare you?
I selected Doctors Without Borders and learned that there are opportunities for people with all levels of
experience and areas of expertise, including nurses. On their website, it states that nurses are needed
less for direct care and more for launching and managing public health initiatives, such as training local
nurses or organizing vaccination campaigns.

JMU could better prepare us to serve in these types of roles by interviewing us about our aspirations for
public health service, and what additional steps beyond the RN-to-BSN program we need to take to
reach our goals. For example, Doctors Without Borders strongly recommends that all RN applicants
speak French and/or Arabic. If a JMU nurse wants to work for them, that nurse would need to practice
and study – likely for years – to be conversational if not fluent in Arabic or French.

8). Share your evaluation of the webquest as a teaching tool.

As we learned in Module 1, most learners are more likely to retain and apply learning when they are
actively involved in the learning process. For me, the webquest was an effective teaching tool because it
was a pick-your-own-adventure style of learning. There was just enough guidance from the sequence of
prompts to direct my autonomous explorations in ways that I personalized to my professional interests
and goals, while meeting the broad learning objectives for the assignment. I also learn well by writing
reflections, so the combination of guidance, autonomy, and writing was perfect for me.
 References

Corona, A. (2020, March 6). Disease eradication: What does it take to wipe out a disease? American
Society for Microbiology. https://asm.org/Articles/2020/March/Disease-Eradication-What-Does-It-Take-
to-Wipe-out#:~:text=To%20date%2C%20the%20World%20Health,the%20rinderpest%20virus%20(RPV).

Heymann, D. L., & Wilder-Smith, A. (2020). Successful smallpox eradication: What can we learn to
control COVID-19? Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa090

Wilson, N., Mansoor, O., Boyd, M., Kvalsvig, A., & Baker, M. (2021). We should not dismiss the possibility
of eradicating COVID-19: Comparisons with smallpox and polio. BMJ Global Health, 6.
https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/8/e006810.info