It Takes a Herd

By Adam J. Kleinschmit

Abstract

This directed case study places students in the role of committee members tasked with developing a strategic long-term plan for building up herd immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the infectious agent responsible for novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The case involves the jigsaw cooperative learning method as students work through grouped sets of popular press articles that examine a variety of immunization strategies, including natural infection, vaccination, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, and therapeutic hyperimmune globulin. Students also consider projections from an epidemiological model as they work to synthesize a strategic plan to build up herd immunity over time within a fictional country. The case is applicable to courses covering principles of immunity and the immune response such as general biology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, medical microbiology and infectious disease, epidemiology, and immunology.

Download Case

Date Posted

04/29/2020

Overview

Objectives

Compare and contrast naturally and artificially acquired active and passive immunity and provide examples of each.
Describe how neutralizing antibodies are generated and how they may provide immunity for an infectious agent.
Compare and contrast methods for obtaining passive immunity.
Describe how a vaccine provides immunity.
Describe the concept of herd immunity and how it can protect non-immunized individuals within a population and reduce community transmission.
Create a strategic public-health immunity plan that incorporates multiple interventions with the long-term goal of establishing herd immunity within a population.
Discuss the challenges of responding to an uncharacterized emerging infectious disease agent.

Keywords

COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; outbreak; epidemic; pandemic; herd; immunity; vaccine; vaccination; immunization; infectious disease; virus; immunoglobulin; hyperimmune globulin; antibody; convalescent plasma; naturally acquired; active immunity; artificially acquired; passive immunity

Subject Headings

Biology (General)

Epidemiology

Medicine (General)

Microbiology

Physiology

Public Health

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

High school, Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division

FORMAT

PDF

TOPICAL AREAS

Policy issues

LANGUAGE

English

TYPE/METHODS

Directed, Jig-Saw, Role-Play

Teaching Notes & Answer Key

Teaching Notes

Case teaching notes are protected and access to them is limited to paid subscribed instructors. To become a paid subscriber, purchase a subscription here.

Teaching notes are intended to help teachers select and adopt a case. They typically include a summary of the case, teaching objectives, information about the intended audience, details about how the case may be taught, and a list of references and resources.

Download Notes

Answer Key

Answer Keys are protected and access to them is limited to paid subscribed instructors. To become a paid subscriber, purchase a subscription here.

Download Answer Key