Bacterial and Viral Infections

Which illness is spread by eating food that has been contaminated by bacteria?

• botulism

• influenza

• tuberculosis

• Lyme disease

Which will most likely occur when the quality of sanitation in an area improves?

• The number of disease carriers will increase.

• The number of infectious disease cases will decrease.

• The amount of available food resources will decrease.

• The amount of necessary medical treatment will increase.

Which best distinguishes an infectious disease from a noninfectious disease?

• Infectious diseases can be cured with antibiotics; noninfectious diseases cannot.

• Infectious diseases can be prevented with vaccines; noninfectious diseases cannot.

• Infectious diseases can be spread from one organism to another; noninfectious diseases cannot.

• Infectious diseases cannot be transmitted from one organism to another; noninfectious diseases can.

Which is the main risk associated with being a disease carrier?

• A carrier can unknowingly spread the disease to others.

• A person is more difficult to cure if he or she is a carrier.

• A person is more likely to die once he or she becomes a carrier.

• A carrier can use up all the available medicine in a local area.

Which antibiotic was developed from a fungus and has been used to cure many illnesses that could have led to epidemics?

• aspirin

• ethanol

• penicillin

• acetaminophen

On Monday, Kari exhibits no symptoms of a viral illness. She is sick on Tuesday and stays home from school. On Wednesday, her friends stay home with the same illness, despite having no contact with Kari when she was sick on Tuesday. Which is the most likely explanation of how the other students became sick?

• Kari was immune to the virus but infected the other students

• The virus mutated and infected the other students after Kari got sick

• Kari was infected with the virus before she experienced any symptoms

• The virus was a carrier, and the other students were infected after Kari got sick.

How are quarantines used to slow the spread of an epidemic?

• Quarantines prevent individuals from eating food that is potentially contaminated

• Quarantines allow enough time for antibiotics to take effect in infected individuals.

• Quarantines keep infected individuals separate so they cannot pass the disease to others.

• Quarantines keep people inside their homes so that family members can provide care for each other.

Which would most likely prevent a cold virus from spreading through a classroom?

• Have a large supply of tissues on the teacher's desk.

• Have all students wash their hands regularly with soap.

• Have all students shake hands regularly with all students.

• Have all students wipe desk with dry paper towel as end of class.

Which would most likely aid in the prevention of an epidemic?

• drinking lots of fluids

• isolating infected individuals

• researching non-infectious diseases

• taking antibiotics before symptoms start

The Black Plague killed about 100 million people in the fourteenth century. The bacteria that caused the plague was carried by fleas on rats and traveled great distances. Which would have most directly limited the spread of the disease?

• cleaner water sources

• refrigeration of food and water

• reduction in the rodent population

• better medicines to treat infected individuals