Thumbnails:
List:
Year:
Category:
Session:
Poster:
Getting poster data...
Maja Divjak, Adam Hunt, Ryan Granger, David Donovan, Jacinta Duncan (Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne, Australia; Dead on Sound, Melbourne, Australia; New Foundations Medical Mission, Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Despite the availability of an effective vaccine since 1924, tetanus remains a major health problem in the developing world due to lack of vaccination resources. Tetanus is rarely seen in most developed nations and as a result, secondary students are unfamiliar with tetanus pathology and why vaccination is vitally important. In tune with an increasingly digitally-focussed student cohort, we have created a 3D animation that explores the process of tetanus infection. The animation illustrates how tetanus spores can be introduced into the body where they germinate to produce living bacteria, which grow and divide and release a potent toxin. We then outline how our central nervous system normally controls our voluntary muscle and how the tetanus toxin inhibits the control mechanisms. Loss of muscle control causes the severe convulsive spasms typical of tetanus. This animation makes an invisible, abstract world tangible for secondary students; such is the power of biomedical animation as an educational tool and the reason we employ it at GTAC. Furthermore, it highlights why protection is important with comprehensive vaccination programs and that these are needed in the developing world