Theoretical background and rationale 

Teaching infectious diseases is an integral and important part of the biology curriculum. Previously, infectious diseases were not given much attention in biology education and within biology education research (Byrne, Marston, and Grace, 2021; Jones and Rua, 2008). Considering the recent COVID-19 pandemic there is reason to believe that this topic gained priority in biology tutoring. This study investigated the way Swedish middle school teachers taught infectious diseases in the aftermath of COVID-19 by using the contagion literacy framework (CL) as the analytical tool. The CL framework was originally developed by Kilstadius and Gericke (2017) based on Nutbeam’s (1998) health literacy framework and conceptualize what knowledge pertaining to health and disease that is considered essential for a citizen to understand and hence to be included in the biology curriculum of compulsory schools. The CL framework covers six principal content themes: (i) contagions, (ii) modes of transmission, (iii) infectious diseases, (iv) hygiene practices, (v) vaccinations, and (vi) antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.

The six themes are further subdivided into three levels of health literacy, functional health literacy, encompassing fundamental concepts and knowledge. The subsequent level, interactive health literacy, represents the translation of functional health literacy into practical actions and behaviours. The third level, critical health literacy, involves the utilization of insights into infectious diseases in the everyday decision-making process and the capacity to influence one's lifestyle choices accordingly.