The Importance of Educating Nonmajors in Microbiology

Abstract

Educating non-science majors in the basics of microbiology is a MUST. I began teaching microbiology strictly to non-science students through an infectious-diseases course. The course introduced the history, societal aspects, and science of microbiology. My aim was to provide the non-science major with enough information to reliably and intelligently understand their world, at least in relation to microorganisms. Personally, the need for this type of knowledge in non- science majors has become more evident to me in the recent past.Six years ago I became a mother to a beautiful and healthy boy. But between 15 and 18 months of age, we began to see behavioral changes that happened to coincide with his immunization schedule. He stopped jabbering, stopped reacting to stimuli, and began a social regression. This must sound familiar in light of the controversy surrounding a link between autism and immunizations. Indeed, my son was diagnosed with sensory integration disorder and possible Asperger's syndrome, which is defined as at the mild end of the autism spectrum.My husband and I were shocked with the diagnosis. As we are both scientists, we did what we knew how to do: we scanned the literature about this diagnosis and found several discussions that linked childhood immunizations and autism. Because of our professions, we could understand the scientific language and facts. But we had questions. We lived in a state that provided immunizations only through a government health agency, so we did not have personal contact with a physician for the immunizations. We felt abandoned and confused.We discussed delaying our son's immunizations, but we knew and understood their importance. In the end, we continued his immunization schedule, but were we afraid? Yes. In fact, we opted to split the shots into two sequences, in part because of his sensory-integration issues.Now, imagine the above story, also with loving, caring parents, but parents without the background knowledge to comprehend the mountain of available literature on autism and immunizations. These parents are looking for help, understanding, and above all a way to care for their child. How do they weigh the