How can knowledge and medical information be communicated to all people regardless of their educational background? One possibility is edutainment. The term is a combination of education and entertainment and includes different approaches to learning in an entertaining, easy-to-understand way, such as comics, graphic novels and games. Four examples give an idea of the diversity of possible approaches for the topics immune system and infection.

Front page \ — Front page "Immun im Cartoon" by Jürgen Frey

Jürgen Frey

Immun im Cartoon

Jürgen Frey is a freelance illustrator and communication designer in Berlin. He works on various topics, including didactic illustrations on health topics.

The medical comic about the immune system comprises two volumes. It explains to children and adolescents what happens in a body that has to defend itself against an infection (volume 1) and what happens if the immune system does not function properly, in this example due to a congenital immunodeficiency (volume 2). The full comics are available on the website of the Deutsche Selbsthilfe angeborener Immundefekte (DSAI), and, in part, as a film on YouTube.

https://juergenfrey.de/

The comics are available at the DSAI website

Immun im Cartoon, der Film on YouTube

Cover of the comic \ — Cover of the comic "Occupied by Microbes"

Judy Diamond, Julia McQuillan and Charles Wood

Biology of Human / Occupied by Microbes

The project Biology of Human bases on a collaboration between biomedical researchers, science educators, sociologists, artists, and journalists. It aims to broadly educate youth and adults about biomedical research developments and to spark scientific interest among young people.

“Occupied by Microbes” tells of the interactions between microbe species in the human body and builds a narrative bridge into the lives of young people: together we are strong against troublemakers and tyrants in everyday life. The pictures displayed show that certain fungi (e.g. Candida species), which under normal conditions colonize humans quite peacefully, can become aggressively infectious, if the normal colonization with microbes is disturbed – e.g. by the use of antibiotics. If the beneficial microorganisms can return and resettle in the body, balance can also be restored.

Martin Powell, Rebecca Smith und Judy Diamond (Story)
Tom Floyd (Art)
Nick Poliwko (Inks and colors)

https://worldofviruses.unl.edu/

Biology of Human was supported by the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Grant 1R25OD010506 (principal investigators Judy Diamond, Charles Wood, and Julia McQuillan). Its content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Card game \ — Card game "Vaxcards" by Dan Epstein

Dan Epstein

Vaxcards

Australian physician Dan Epstein and his colleagues have developed a card game that provides information about infectious diseases that can be prevented by vaccination and is entertaining at the same time.

The great success of vaccinations also changed the perception of infectious diseases. They have become such a distant threat that people are hardly aware of their severity. The card game playfully renews this knowledge – the player who successfully knocks down the opponent with the most dangerous diseases and successfully builds up his own resistance wins the game.

http://www.vaxcards.com/

Sara Kenney & John Watkiss

Surgeon X

Sara Kenney is an author, producer and director based in London, England. Supported by the Wellcome Trust, she developed the comic “Surgeon X”, which was first released in 2016, followed by the publication of the collected edition in 2017. The story was illustrated by John Watkiss (1961–2017), an artist who worked in both illustration and film.

“Surgeon X” is a comic book whose plot takes place against the background of an “antibiotic apocalypse” in the London of the near future. Antibiotics have become largely ineffective and are rationalized. Rosa Scott, a brilliant and obsessive surgeon, turns into Surgeon X, who uses experimental surgical methods and drugs from the black market to treat her patients. The book addresses the consequences regarding public health, politics and social security as well as scientific issues in a world where antibiotics have largely lost their effect.

Credits:
Sara Kenney, Writer
John Watkiss, Artist
James Devlin, Colourist
Karen Berger, Editor
Jared K. Fletcher, Letterer
Image Comics, Publisher
Wellcome Trust, Funder

http://surgeonx.co.uk/

Edutainment