Nanobug cartoon characters teach infection prevention

Combining science and imagination, Nancy Haberstich, president and CEO of Lincoln-based Nanobugs Inc., and her daughter, Hannah Yates, product manager, are banking on their nanobug creations making it fun to learn about the transmission of infections and how to prevent them.

"If you prevent infections, you don't have to control them," said Haberstich, a registered nurse who has worked 30 years in infection control and related international consulting.

Haberstich and Yates contracted with a caricature artist, clinical microbiologist and other specialists to create 60 nanobug microbes that include bacteria, viruses and fungi.

The Nanobugs are "morphologically correct," meaning they are shaped as they appear under a microscope as rods, spheres, chains or clusters, Yates said. Some nanobugs have a "force field" around them to show they are antibiotic resistant. Those representing anaerobic bacteria, which do not grow in oxygen, wear gas masks.

In December Haberstich and Yates launched a Web site, wwwnanobugs.com, for children, parents, teachers and health professionals. The site introduces the animated Nanobugs, e-cards, activities and a virtual store with nanobug products like T-shirts, temporary tattoos, trading cards, playing cards and aprons.

Haberstich's other daughter, Mary, is designing a nanobugs board game with her father.

"By learning about the different nanobugs, we can develop behaviors and strategies to stay healthy - avoiding some nanobugs and enhancing others," Haberstich said.

Some nanobugs, like Staphylococcus Aureus, have two cartoon characters - one representing the friendly microbe found on the skin, and the other representing the pathogenic (disease-causing) microbe that turns into a "monster" under the skin.

Yates' daughter, Maisy, recently fell off her scooter and scraped her knees while playing outside Grandma Haberstich's house. Haberstich picked up Maisy in the nanobugs Volkswagen "ambulance," which has nanobug cartoon characters on the doors. Maisy knew the quote on the Staph Aureus trading card - "I'm OK on your skin, but don't let me get in!"

"After we washed and bandaged her scraped knees and talked about which nanobugs could be involved, she wanted the pathogenic Staph Aureus tattoo on her arm as her reward," Haberstich said.

Haberstich is writing a microbiology manual for mothers featuring nanobugs in the home and community, due to be published by iUniverse in December. She is also coauthoring a chapter book for children ages 10-14 that will introduce nanobugs and focus on solving epidemiological mysteries at a summer camp.

Haberstich plans to launch a nanobugs campaign in Japan in 2008, then move on to Liberia, West Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada.

For more details about nanobug "microbes with attitude," see www.nanobugs.com.

This article was originally published in Star City Health.