Diseases & Nutrition Quiz: Vitamins, Pathogens & Vaccines
10 exam-style questions on vitamin and mineral deficiencies, disease-causing microbes, mosquito vectors, vaccines and medical milestones. All explained.
Diseases & Nutrition Quiz: Vitamins, Pathogens & Vaccines
Tip: use keys 1-4 to answer, Enter for next.
Answers to the starter quiz
Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.
Scurvy, marked by bleeding gums, is caused by deficiency of:
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin K
Answer: Vitamin C. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is needed for collagen; without it gums bleed and wounds heal slowly. Citrus fruits and amla are rich sources.
Which group contains only fat-soluble vitamins?
- B and C
- A, B, C and D
- A, D, E and K
- B1, B2 and B12
Answer: A, D, E and K. Vitamins A, D, E and K dissolve in fat and are stored in the body. B-complex and C are water-soluble and are not stored for long.
Malaria is caused by:
- A protozoan (Plasmodium) spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes
- A virus spread by Aedes mosquitoes
- A bacterium spread by Culex mosquitoes
- A worm spread by sandflies
Answer: A protozoan (Plasmodium) spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Plasmodium, a protozoan, is carried by the female Anopheles. Aedes spreads dengue and chikungunya; Culex spreads filariasis.
The BCG vaccine is given to protect against:
- Polio
- Measles
- Tetanus
- Tuberculosis
Answer: Tuberculosis. BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin) protects young children against severe forms of tuberculosis.
Kwashiorkor in children results mainly from deficiency of:
- Iodine
- Protein
- Vitamin A
- Iron
Answer: Protein. Kwashiorkor is protein deficiency (swollen belly, oedema). Marasmus is deficiency of both protein and calories (severe wasting).
Night blindness is a symptom of deficiency of which vitamin?
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B12
Answer: Vitamin A. Vitamin A is needed to form the light-sensitive pigment in the retina. Carrots, leafy greens and liver are good sources.
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, mainly destroys which cells of the body?
- Red blood cells
- Platelets
- Liver cells
- Helper T lymphocytes (CD4 cells)
Answer: Helper T lymphocytes (CD4 cells). HIV infects helper T cells that coordinate immunity, so the body becomes open to infections it would normally fight off.
Penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic, was discovered in 1928 by:
- Alexander Fleming
- Louis Pasteur
- Edward Jenner
- Robert Koch
Answer: Alexander Fleming. Fleming noticed that Penicillium mould killed bacteria. Jenner made the smallpox vaccine, Pasteur the rabies vaccine, Koch found the TB bacterium.
Goitre, a swelling of the neck, is linked to deficiency of:
- Calcium
- Iodine
- Iron
- Zinc
Answer: Iodine. The thyroid needs iodine to make thyroxine; without it the gland enlarges. India adds iodine to common salt to prevent it.
Which of the following diseases is caused by a virus?
- Cholera
- Typhoid
- Dengue
- Tuberculosis
Answer: Dengue. Dengue is viral, spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Cholera, typhoid and tuberculosis are bacterial and can be treated with antibiotics.
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