Part 1: Fungus Amongus

Opening Questions:

Opening questions engage learners in a conversation related to the topic they are about to discover without focusing on right or wrong answers. You may use these, or other open-ended questions to kick off the lesson.

1. In the context of global health, what does the term “stakeholder” mean to you?
2. Describe your understanding of some of the challenges in preventing and addressing global health events in modern society.

Video

Play the video with the opening scene of the HBO series “The Last of Us”. Clearly, this is a work of fiction. However, it is provocative not only because it evokes a terrifying scenario of fungi as mind-controlling pathogens that take over humanity but also because it addresses a complicated and evolving-in-real-time situation involving the risk of fungal pathogens as agents of an epidemic or pandemic event.

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Discussion

Engage the learners in a discussion of the video clip. Consider the discussion questions provided as a continuation of the opening questions. The point of this conversation is not to arrive at definitive answers or specific facts but to explore the idea of fungal pathogens as drivers of global health events and the complex network of risk factors, predictive pathways, and prevention strategies that might be involved.

Suggestion discussion questions include:

1. Based on the scenario depicted in the video, describe some of the risk factors for fungi as agents of a large-scale health event.
2. Based on your understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, how are the risk factors similar or different between a viral pandemic and a fungal pandemic.

Writing

Ask learners to record their responses to this question in their class notes so they may reference them later.

If you were researching the possible scenarios by which a fungal pathogen might lead to a global health event, what types of questions would you want to address? What types of experts would you engage in your research process?