Evolutionary Medicine

Introduction and Rationale

"A lot of the elders have helped in sharing that story of the twins, fighting off monsters, and the younger generation related to that and put on the armor and the protection that is needed to fight COVID-19".Jonathan Nez, Sandia Lab News¹

Beginning in March 2020, COVID-19 invaded many communities on the Navajo Reservation. An unknown disease our people had to fight. How COVID-19 spread rapidly on the Navajo reservation happened through its introduction in a tiny town called Chilchinbeto, fifteen miles southeast of Kayenta. A Christian education meeting at the local church had believers from across the reservation attend the large meeting. The preacher was infected with the virus and coughed constantly during the meeting.  The meeting concluded, and people went home, unknowingly infected with the virus that went on to infect their families.

Not only did the dangerous virus ‘monster’ hurt many families on the reservation, but it also attacked other communities globally. The monster in Navajo legend and stories is a name that referred to sickness, cold, hunger, poverty, and old age. The twin warriors killed many monsters and left a few of them because the monsters will remind humans that we experience the unpleasantness and to stay humble. As Jonathan Nez mentioned the monster, it is one of the unseen sicknesses.

The sickness impacted many poor nations and Indigenous Communities. People with underlying sickness and the elderly were severely impacted, especially when losing family members. The social interactions, economics, and health of people have been affected negatively by SARS CoV-2 virus, and the world's livelihood and well-being have been endangered too. Low-income and middle-income countries, weaker health systems, limited resources, and lower socioeconomic status can make the life of people challenging.²

Rationale

Many students had to deal with the loss of a family member, went through a traumatic change when attending school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and experienced the guidelines of CDC and tribal mandates like curfew hours and wearing masks. Families were forced to follow the requirements during the COVID-19 lockdown when shopping for food and supplies at the local markets was not allowed. Individuals not following the mandates were fined and ticketed by the regional authorities.

The school system had to follow national, state, and tribal protocols to continue educating students. The school district distributed laptops and hotspot devices so students could access Zoom for their online learning from home. Many of the students took advantage of their home/school education by not connecting to Zoom, blacking out their screens, or participating in lunch and logging off.

Many students needed to know what COVID-19 entailed, and teachers had to scramble and research information about the new virus. Teachers explained what COVID-19 is to the students and why they had to stay home while attending school. Explaining the virus' function and mutations was complex for fifth-grade students during the lockdown and with homeschooling being online. The primary communication with the students was Zoom, email on their Google accounts, and calling and texting their parent(s) and guardians.

The following year, students were allowed to physically attend school in the classroom with many requirements and protocols from the government and tribal entities. Eventually, students began attending school full-time.

With the decline of COVID-19, the community is more relaxed, and most students do not wear masks. However, some people still wear masks, a reminder of the ongoing threat. The 2023-2024 students taught in the past year were the online COVID-19 students who homeschooled on Zoom for the entire school year. Even though COVID-19 is a minimal threat today because of vaccines and antiviral medicines, our students must understand how viruses’ function and mutate to affect human health, as the pandemic virus and others will continue to be relevant in their lives.

Teachers must prepare for the type of students they will teach when planning to write and teach the fifth-grade curriculum unit. Teachers who teach in the Dine Nation at the Kayenta Unified School District will have students who are Native Americans and Navajo. An estimated percentage of native students is about 8%, others represent other nationalities, and 1% are white. Kayenta is located in the northwestern part of Arizona and is about the size of West Virginia. Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico are the “four corner” states encompassing the Navajo reservation. The community of Kayenta is a hub for smaller communities in the surrounding area, like Black Mesa, Chilchinbeto, Cowsprings, Dennehotso, Oljato, Rough Rock, Shonto and Tonalea. The distances of the communities range from fifteen to sixty miles from school to home. These communities rely on Kayenta for shopping, laundry, fast food, schooling, the local Black Mesa movie theater, and the weekly flea market.

Many of the students within the surrounding communities prefer attending school at Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD) because of the sports programming provided to students from the third grade through high school. Basketball and football are the two sports that attract fans. Additionally, students have access to the school swimming pool and the culture center events like Miss Navajo Nation, beading, and sewing classes, which are some of the activities families attend. KUSD is a K-12 school with one high school, one middle school, an elementary school, and a Pre-K school. Many students ride buses from outlying smaller communities, about 30 to 120 miles roundtrip.

Most students know the basics of how viruses’ function. They know viruses are minute and can be viewed only through powerful microscopes. They also know some viruses of humans can enter the body through oral cavities such as the nose and mouth and multiply rapidly. However, students do not fully comprehend how these viruses invade and multiply in the body, causing severe sickness and sometimes death. How viruses mutate into various strains is another factor students need to gain sufficient knowledge about microscopic organisms.

The structure of the SARS CoV-2 virus includes the genome, lipids, proteins, and membrane cover. The outer part of the virus has protein structures, which need to bind with receptors of the host cell to begin infection. Then, the virus enters the airway of the trachea lining and begins to incubate and multiply. As the viruses multiply within cells of the infected human host, they replicate to create more viruses. As more and more viruses replicate, they increasingly infect cells of the lungs and attack the alveoli and damage them.  COVID-19 is divided into three stages, for the asymptomatic phase resides in the nose, for symptomatic phase the virus infection is mostly in the epithelium of trachea where intense damage occurs. The third phase is the most vigorous and damaging because the alveoli are important for the gases to exchange in the lungs.³ The lining cells of the alveoli and the capillaries are damaged. These damages affect oxygen flow efficiently through the bloodstream.⁴

Many people will survive COVID-19 disease, but some will die because of contributing factors such as their age, underlying health issues, and poorly functioning immune systems. With the advancement of medical technology, some patients overcome sickness. The advanced technologies are the usage of CAT scans, X-rays, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that could be used to identify, track, and diagnose diseases caused by virus pathogens. The drones and robots are used to deliver food and medicine supplies as well as in sterilizing public places. AI is helping to develop drugs and coronavirus vaccines using the power of super computers.⁵