MIC 401 EXAM 5 QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026
Virus characteristics - Answers 1. Smaller in size
2. Require a living host to grow
3. Unicellular
4. Lacks a body
5. Contains viral nucleic acid
6. Contains a capsid
7. Some are protected by phospholipid bilayers and some aren't.
List 3 advantages of virion structure - Answers 1. Protects the fragile nucleic acid genome from
physical, chemical, or enzymatic damage.
2. All the viruses attach to and enter different cell types
3. Delivery of genome into the cell.
Antibody - Answers a large protein produced by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign
objects (antigens)
Immunogenicity - Answers Ability of pathogens to induce an immune response
Antigenicity - Answers the ability of the agent to induce antibody production in the host
Rank the following in order of increasing antigenicity: small molecules, polysaccharides, lipids,
proteins - Answers Small molecules < Lipids < Polysaccharides < Proteins
Active Immunity - Answers A form of acquired immunity in which the body produces its own
antibodies against disease-causing antigens.
Passive Immunity - Answers An individual does not produce his or her own antibodies, but rather
receives them directly from another person.
Passive Immunity example - Answers A breastfed infant
Plaque forming units (PFU) - Answers a measure of the number of infectious virus particles.
Multiplicity of infection (MOI) - Answers average number of virus particles infecting each cell
Give the formula to determine multiplicity of infection - Answers plaque forming units (pfu) of virus
used for infection/ number of cells
Describe the two types of capsids - Answers Helical capsids
- Rod-shaped capsomeres that form a continuous helix around the nucleic acid
Icosahedral Capsids
- Three-dimensional, 20-sided figure with 12 evenly spaced corners
Which hepatitis viruses have vaccines? - Answers Hep A and Hep B (Hep B vaccine also works on Hep
D)
Which Hepatitis can become chronic? - Answers Hepatitis B, C, D
Which Hepatitis can become acute? - Answers Hepatitis A, E
Which hepatitis viruses are transmitted by fecal-oral route? - Answers Hepatitis A, E
Which hepatitis viruses are transmitted by parenteral route? - Answers Hepatitis B, C, D
Which hepatitis viruses are non enveloped? - Answers Hepatitis A, E
Which hepatitis viruses are enveloped? - Answers Hepatitis B, C, D
Hepatitis B particles - Answers 1. Spherical Particles
2. Filamentous Particles
How does Hepatitis A use host cell machinery? - Answers competes with translation machinery
Life cycle of a virus - Answers 1. Attachment
2. Penetration/Entry
3. Uncoating
4. Gene expression and replication (genome replication and mRNA production)
5. Protein synthesis
6. Assembly
7. Release
What happens Hepatitis B and D combine? - Answers It creates a fulminant infection (sudden, quick,
intense and deadly).
What's one important feature about Hepatitis B genome? - Answers It's partially double stranded
DNA (part single and part double stranded)
Hepatitis B asymptomatic infection - Answers Patients with Hep B are asymptomatic; they can spread
it to others without knowing they even have it
Measles/Mumps replication cycle - Answers 1. Attachment
, 2. Entry by Endocytosis
3. Uncoating
4. Genome replication and mRNA production (a.k.a. gene expression and replication)
5. Protein synthesis
6. Translation
7. Virus assembly
8. Budding
9. Release
What's one important feature about Hepatitis C genome? - Answers It produces a single polyprotein
Antigenic drift vs Antigenic shift - Answers Antigenic drift: makes small changes within the virus's
structure so that the virus is no longer affected by antibodies to parent the virus (in other words, last
year's influenza vaccine doesn't work so well against this virus).
Antigenic shift: reassortment of the eight segmented genome into one with entirely new antigens.
Hepatitis A Treatment and Prevention - Answers Inactivated vaccine; immune globulin
Hepatitis B: Treatment and Prevention - Answers -Interferon and nucleoside and nucleotide analogs
(reverse transcriptase inhibitors)
- Hep B immune globulin
- Recombinant vaccine
Hepatitis C: Treatment and Prevention - Answers -No cure, but interferon injections plus ribavirin
may help
-Prolonged interferon treatment may prevent chronic form
-No vaccine
Hepatitis D Treatment and Prevention - Answers - Interferon and nucleoside and nucleotide analogs
(reverse transcriptase inhibitors)
- Hep B immune globulin
- Recombinant vaccine (same as Hep B)
Hepatitis E - Treatment/Prevention - Answers No active or passive immunity
Orthomyxoviridae characteristics - Answers - genome: ssRNA(-)
- segmented
- Enveloped
- Helical nucleocapsid
Influenza A virus - Answers RNA virus that invades tissues of the respiratory tract, causing the signs
and symptoms of the common cold or "flu"
Influenza complications - Answers Secondary bacterial infections such as sinusitis, otitis media,
pneumonia, tracheobronchitis
Influenza transmission - Answers aerosol droplets
Hemagglutinin - Answers - one of the two spikes found on the surface of the influenza virus
- binds sialic acid and promotes membrane fusion
- allows endocytosis into cells
- determines tropism!
Influenza replication cycle - Answers 1. Enters cell by endocytosis
2. Fusion and uncoating
3. Genome replication and mRNA production
4. Protein synthesis
5. Viral assembly
6. Budding
7. Release
Neurominidase - Answers enables the virus to be released from the host cell by cleaving the sialic
acids of the proteins on the surface of the cell.
Human influenza - Answers - Binds in trachea
- Spreads easily
- Symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, etc.
- rarely fatal on its own (unless mixed with secondary infection)
Avian Influenza - Answers - Binds deep down in bronchi and alveolar walls
- Spreads slowly
- Very deadly
Endemic - Answers confined to a particular country or area
Virus characteristics - Answers 1. Smaller in size
2. Require a living host to grow
3. Unicellular
4. Lacks a body
5. Contains viral nucleic acid
6. Contains a capsid
7. Some are protected by phospholipid bilayers and some aren't.
List 3 advantages of virion structure - Answers 1. Protects the fragile nucleic acid genome from
physical, chemical, or enzymatic damage.
2. All the viruses attach to and enter different cell types
3. Delivery of genome into the cell.
Antibody - Answers a large protein produced by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign
objects (antigens)
Immunogenicity - Answers Ability of pathogens to induce an immune response
Antigenicity - Answers the ability of the agent to induce antibody production in the host
Rank the following in order of increasing antigenicity: small molecules, polysaccharides, lipids,
proteins - Answers Small molecules < Lipids < Polysaccharides < Proteins
Active Immunity - Answers A form of acquired immunity in which the body produces its own
antibodies against disease-causing antigens.
Passive Immunity - Answers An individual does not produce his or her own antibodies, but rather
receives them directly from another person.
Passive Immunity example - Answers A breastfed infant
Plaque forming units (PFU) - Answers a measure of the number of infectious virus particles.
Multiplicity of infection (MOI) - Answers average number of virus particles infecting each cell
Give the formula to determine multiplicity of infection - Answers plaque forming units (pfu) of virus
used for infection/ number of cells
Describe the two types of capsids - Answers Helical capsids
- Rod-shaped capsomeres that form a continuous helix around the nucleic acid
Icosahedral Capsids
- Three-dimensional, 20-sided figure with 12 evenly spaced corners
Which hepatitis viruses have vaccines? - Answers Hep A and Hep B (Hep B vaccine also works on Hep
D)
Which Hepatitis can become chronic? - Answers Hepatitis B, C, D
Which Hepatitis can become acute? - Answers Hepatitis A, E
Which hepatitis viruses are transmitted by fecal-oral route? - Answers Hepatitis A, E
Which hepatitis viruses are transmitted by parenteral route? - Answers Hepatitis B, C, D
Which hepatitis viruses are non enveloped? - Answers Hepatitis A, E
Which hepatitis viruses are enveloped? - Answers Hepatitis B, C, D
Hepatitis B particles - Answers 1. Spherical Particles
2. Filamentous Particles
How does Hepatitis A use host cell machinery? - Answers competes with translation machinery
Life cycle of a virus - Answers 1. Attachment
2. Penetration/Entry
3. Uncoating
4. Gene expression and replication (genome replication and mRNA production)
5. Protein synthesis
6. Assembly
7. Release
What happens Hepatitis B and D combine? - Answers It creates a fulminant infection (sudden, quick,
intense and deadly).
What's one important feature about Hepatitis B genome? - Answers It's partially double stranded
DNA (part single and part double stranded)
Hepatitis B asymptomatic infection - Answers Patients with Hep B are asymptomatic; they can spread
it to others without knowing they even have it
Measles/Mumps replication cycle - Answers 1. Attachment
, 2. Entry by Endocytosis
3. Uncoating
4. Genome replication and mRNA production (a.k.a. gene expression and replication)
5. Protein synthesis
6. Translation
7. Virus assembly
8. Budding
9. Release
What's one important feature about Hepatitis C genome? - Answers It produces a single polyprotein
Antigenic drift vs Antigenic shift - Answers Antigenic drift: makes small changes within the virus's
structure so that the virus is no longer affected by antibodies to parent the virus (in other words, last
year's influenza vaccine doesn't work so well against this virus).
Antigenic shift: reassortment of the eight segmented genome into one with entirely new antigens.
Hepatitis A Treatment and Prevention - Answers Inactivated vaccine; immune globulin
Hepatitis B: Treatment and Prevention - Answers -Interferon and nucleoside and nucleotide analogs
(reverse transcriptase inhibitors)
- Hep B immune globulin
- Recombinant vaccine
Hepatitis C: Treatment and Prevention - Answers -No cure, but interferon injections plus ribavirin
may help
-Prolonged interferon treatment may prevent chronic form
-No vaccine
Hepatitis D Treatment and Prevention - Answers - Interferon and nucleoside and nucleotide analogs
(reverse transcriptase inhibitors)
- Hep B immune globulin
- Recombinant vaccine (same as Hep B)
Hepatitis E - Treatment/Prevention - Answers No active or passive immunity
Orthomyxoviridae characteristics - Answers - genome: ssRNA(-)
- segmented
- Enveloped
- Helical nucleocapsid
Influenza A virus - Answers RNA virus that invades tissues of the respiratory tract, causing the signs
and symptoms of the common cold or "flu"
Influenza complications - Answers Secondary bacterial infections such as sinusitis, otitis media,
pneumonia, tracheobronchitis
Influenza transmission - Answers aerosol droplets
Hemagglutinin - Answers - one of the two spikes found on the surface of the influenza virus
- binds sialic acid and promotes membrane fusion
- allows endocytosis into cells
- determines tropism!
Influenza replication cycle - Answers 1. Enters cell by endocytosis
2. Fusion and uncoating
3. Genome replication and mRNA production
4. Protein synthesis
5. Viral assembly
6. Budding
7. Release
Neurominidase - Answers enables the virus to be released from the host cell by cleaving the sialic
acids of the proteins on the surface of the cell.
Human influenza - Answers - Binds in trachea
- Spreads easily
- Symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, etc.
- rarely fatal on its own (unless mixed with secondary infection)
Avian Influenza - Answers - Binds deep down in bronchi and alveolar walls
- Spreads slowly
- Very deadly
Endemic - Answers confined to a particular country or area
