News & Views: Communicating About Vaccines – A Novel Approach

Do you know?

1. Although he died well before the vaccine was invented, Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, died from what vaccine-preventable disease?
   a. Smallpox
   b. Shingles
   c. Polio
   d. Influenza
2. Two NCAA basketball teams during the 1988-89 season played multiple games without any spectators due to an outbreak of what vaccine-preventable disease?
   a. Influenza
   b. Haemophilus influenzae type b
   c. Measles
   d. Pertussis
3. Who do you think received the most immunologic components in vaccines?
   a. Children born in 1942
   b. Children born in 1982
   c. Children born in 2000
   d. Children born in 2010
4. Who should not get the chickenpox vaccine?
   a. Everyone can get the chickenpox vaccine – no exceptions.
   b. People who are allergic to gelatin.
   c. People who are afraid of needles.
   d. People who go to the doctor regularly.
5. What vaccine-preventable disease used to be referred to as “the strangling angel of children”?
   a. Diphtheria
   b. Smallpox
   c. Pertussis
   d. Chickenpox

Free vaccine trivia game, Just the Vax, is now available

The Vaccine Education Center is always trying to find new and unique ways to communicate about vaccines, so we are pleased to announce our newest tool, Just the Vax: Vaccine Trivia.

The trivia game offers players multiple choice questions, such as those above, in four categories:

• Vaccines
• Vaccine Safety
• Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
• Famous and Historical Figures

After choosing a category, players are given 10 multiple choice questions. After each question, players are told if they answered correctly and are provided with a bit of additional information. At the end of the round, players are provided with their scores as well as the average score of all previous players. The game contains more than 250 questions. It can be played on devices ranging from mobile to desktop and can easily be accessed through http://vaccine.chop.edu/trivia.

While we hope you will try the game, we are most interested in helping you employ it as a useful tool in your vaccine program. Here are some ways to use the game and its content:

Ways to use the game with your patients and parents

• Add trivia questions to in-office televisions and announcement boards.
• Use information from the game in newsletters and on print materials.
• Ask a trivia question as a distraction when giving vaccinations, particularly for your needle-apprehensive patients.
• Refer to information from the game in vaccine discussions.
• Hold a patient contest using the game or questions from the game.
• Provide a link to the game on your website or provide a shortcut to the game on desktops or iPads used by patients and their families.
• Add questions and answers to on-hold messages.
• Put questions on reminder cards or in email reminders.
• Use trivia questions to engage parent audiences during presentations or group discussions.

Ways to use the game with staff or other professionals

• Use the game as a fun way to gauge vaccine knowledge.
• Hold a staff competition with incentives.
• Use trivia questions to engage staff during office meetings or to engage professional audiences during presentations.
• Add trivia questions to staff calendars or other office communications related to vaccination.

How did you do? Answers and supplementary information

1. The correct answer is D. Lewis Carroll wrote many stories but is probably most famous for writing Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll died from influenza in 1898.
2. The correct answer is C. A measles outbreak during the 1988-89 basketball season caused Siena College (New York) and the University of Hartford (Connecticut) basketball teams to play five games each without spectators. Interestingly, both teams played better in the absence of fans, scoring more points and attaining higher free-throw percentages.
3. The correct answer is A. Children born in 1942 received four vaccines that contained more than 3,000 immunologic components. Conversely, children today receive 14 vaccines that contain fewer than 150 immunologic components.
4. The correct answer is B. Because the chickenpox vaccine contains gelatin, people who are allergic to gelatin should not receive this vaccine.
5. The correct answer is A. Diphtheria was called “the strangling angel of children” because of the thick membrane that develops in the back of the throat, often covering airways and causing suffocation.

Help make the game better

We look forward to hearing how you like the game and ways you find to use it. We would also like ideas about vaccine trivia that could be adapted into questions. You can email us at vacinfo@email.chop.edu.