NR 443 Communicable Disease Questions
1. What was one of the first public health measures legislated by the U.S. federal government?
a. Funding local government provision of safe water
b. Using the power to impose quarantine
c. Requiring pasteurization of all milk
d. Regulating disposal of waste (garbage and feces)
Quarantine was the first measure used on a federal level to restrict spread of infectious
diseases.
2. What scientific criteria were developed by Jacob Henle to link an organism to its specific
disease?
a. Give samples of the organism to three different researchers and see whether all three
researchers can grow it successfully.
b. Grow the organism on the diseased tissue and then see whether, when spread on normal
tissue, the organism continues to grow.
c. Identify microorganisms under a microscope and grow them on the tissue that the disease
usually infects.
d. Identify the organism, isolate the organism, and see if the organism produces disease.
Henles three criteria to link an organism to its specific disease were to identify the organism,
isolate it, and use it to generate disease.
3. In what way are antibiotics important in reducing the spread of communicable diseases?
a. They help keep the environment free of the infectious agent.
b. They help the host resist the infection.
c. The kill the entire infectious agent upon contact with it.
d. They reduce the time during which the disease is contagious in the infected person.
Antibiotics have many effects, but they reduce the spread of communicable diseases by
decreasing the time during which an infected host can spread a disease.
4. Which of the following actions have had the most success in protecting the publics health?
a. Creation of effective broad-spectrum antibiotics
b. National immunization campaigns to protect children
c. Growth of hospitals and medical and nursing schools in the twentieth century
d. Safe water and sewage systems, as well as milk pasteurization
Public health practices such as safe water, safe disposal of sewage, and pasteurization of milk
have created safer environmental conditions that are primarily responsible for health
protection. Other chapters (such as Chapter 5, International Health) stress that safe water and
sewage disposal are among the most important health protection measures that can be taken.
5. Which of the following statements concerning infectious diseases in the United States
today is true?
a. They account for 25% of all physician visits and are still a major cause of death.
1
, NR 443 Communicable Disease Questions
b. They are not a community/public health problem in the United States.
c. They are a major source of morbidity in the world, but not in the United States.
d. They are rarely fatal in the United States.
Infectious diseases are a major cause of death in many nonindustrialized countries. Even in the
United States, infectious diseases are responsible for 25% of all visits to physicians and remain a
leading cause of death.
6. Which of the following contributed to several measles epidemics in the 1990s?
a. People had stopped getting immunizations for measles and other diseases.
b. The measles vaccine was no longer effective against the agent because the virus had
mutated.
c. The measles vaccine did not provide lifetime immunity.
d. Thousands of ineffective contaminated vaccine doses had unknowingly been injected.
Although it had been believed that measles immunity lasted for a lifetime, it clearly did not, and
one to two booster doses are now recommended for continued protection against measles.
7. Which of the following is the reason for mumps outbreaks among young adults?
a. People had stopped getting immunizations for mumps and other diseases.
b. The mumps vaccine is no longer effective against the agent because the virus had mutated.
c. The mumps vaccine does not provide lifetime immunity.
d. Thousands of ineffective contaminated vaccine doses had unknowingly been injected.
Although it had been believed that the mumps vaccine given in two doses conveyed lifetime
immunity, it clearly did not, and a third dose is now recommended for persons at high risk for
exposure to mumps.
8. A mother wanted her child vaccinated against measles. When she read the benefits and
risks sheet, she changed her mind. Her child was the only one in the class who did not get
immunized. What is the probable risk of her child getting measles in elementary school?
a. Fairly high, as there is no way to prevent being exposed to measles during childhood
b. Fairly low, as measles usually hits in late adolescence now
c. Low, as most of the childs playmates have been immunized
d. Very high without the protection of immunization
Vaccination of 90% of susceptible groups provides substantial protection. Consequently, if the
susceptible child was the only one not immunized, there is no oneat least at the schoolwho
could pass on an infection to that child.
9. Which of the following groups is most at risk today for an outbreak of pneumococcal
pneumonia?
a. Adolescents who have not yet received their booster shots
b. Persons older than 65 who live in nursing homes and other extended-care facilities
2
1. What was one of the first public health measures legislated by the U.S. federal government?
a. Funding local government provision of safe water
b. Using the power to impose quarantine
c. Requiring pasteurization of all milk
d. Regulating disposal of waste (garbage and feces)
Quarantine was the first measure used on a federal level to restrict spread of infectious
diseases.
2. What scientific criteria were developed by Jacob Henle to link an organism to its specific
disease?
a. Give samples of the organism to three different researchers and see whether all three
researchers can grow it successfully.
b. Grow the organism on the diseased tissue and then see whether, when spread on normal
tissue, the organism continues to grow.
c. Identify microorganisms under a microscope and grow them on the tissue that the disease
usually infects.
d. Identify the organism, isolate the organism, and see if the organism produces disease.
Henles three criteria to link an organism to its specific disease were to identify the organism,
isolate it, and use it to generate disease.
3. In what way are antibiotics important in reducing the spread of communicable diseases?
a. They help keep the environment free of the infectious agent.
b. They help the host resist the infection.
c. The kill the entire infectious agent upon contact with it.
d. They reduce the time during which the disease is contagious in the infected person.
Antibiotics have many effects, but they reduce the spread of communicable diseases by
decreasing the time during which an infected host can spread a disease.
4. Which of the following actions have had the most success in protecting the publics health?
a. Creation of effective broad-spectrum antibiotics
b. National immunization campaigns to protect children
c. Growth of hospitals and medical and nursing schools in the twentieth century
d. Safe water and sewage systems, as well as milk pasteurization
Public health practices such as safe water, safe disposal of sewage, and pasteurization of milk
have created safer environmental conditions that are primarily responsible for health
protection. Other chapters (such as Chapter 5, International Health) stress that safe water and
sewage disposal are among the most important health protection measures that can be taken.
5. Which of the following statements concerning infectious diseases in the United States
today is true?
a. They account for 25% of all physician visits and are still a major cause of death.
1
, NR 443 Communicable Disease Questions
b. They are not a community/public health problem in the United States.
c. They are a major source of morbidity in the world, but not in the United States.
d. They are rarely fatal in the United States.
Infectious diseases are a major cause of death in many nonindustrialized countries. Even in the
United States, infectious diseases are responsible for 25% of all visits to physicians and remain a
leading cause of death.
6. Which of the following contributed to several measles epidemics in the 1990s?
a. People had stopped getting immunizations for measles and other diseases.
b. The measles vaccine was no longer effective against the agent because the virus had
mutated.
c. The measles vaccine did not provide lifetime immunity.
d. Thousands of ineffective contaminated vaccine doses had unknowingly been injected.
Although it had been believed that measles immunity lasted for a lifetime, it clearly did not, and
one to two booster doses are now recommended for continued protection against measles.
7. Which of the following is the reason for mumps outbreaks among young adults?
a. People had stopped getting immunizations for mumps and other diseases.
b. The mumps vaccine is no longer effective against the agent because the virus had mutated.
c. The mumps vaccine does not provide lifetime immunity.
d. Thousands of ineffective contaminated vaccine doses had unknowingly been injected.
Although it had been believed that the mumps vaccine given in two doses conveyed lifetime
immunity, it clearly did not, and a third dose is now recommended for persons at high risk for
exposure to mumps.
8. A mother wanted her child vaccinated against measles. When she read the benefits and
risks sheet, she changed her mind. Her child was the only one in the class who did not get
immunized. What is the probable risk of her child getting measles in elementary school?
a. Fairly high, as there is no way to prevent being exposed to measles during childhood
b. Fairly low, as measles usually hits in late adolescence now
c. Low, as most of the childs playmates have been immunized
d. Very high without the protection of immunization
Vaccination of 90% of susceptible groups provides substantial protection. Consequently, if the
susceptible child was the only one not immunized, there is no oneat least at the schoolwho
could pass on an infection to that child.
9. Which of the following groups is most at risk today for an outbreak of pneumococcal
pneumonia?
a. Adolescents who have not yet received their booster shots
b. Persons older than 65 who live in nursing homes and other extended-care facilities
2
