Deck 8: Epidemics and Immunities

Question 1

Chickenpox is (given current rates of vaccination) an example of an _______ disease.

A) epidemic
B) endemic
C) pandemic
D) syndemic
E) chronic

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The structure regulating nutrient and fluid flow across the lining of the intestine is a/an:

A) antigen
B) leukocyte
C) helminth
D) transmembrane conductance regulator or TR
E) maladaptive response to polluted water

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Science suggests that the gene that regulates cystic fibrosis TRs or CFTRs evolved in northern European populations:

A) due to their close proximity to livestock animals.
B) as part of a balanced polymorphism that protected the majority against death by cholera.
C) following their regression back to foraging from farming.
D) as an adaptive response to smallpox.
E) None of the answers is right, because it was first seen in people of Canadian, French, Tanzanian, and Romanian descent.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The 'disease ecology' lens is best described as taking the perspective of the:

A) human host
B) doctor
C) environmentalist
D) vector
E) germ

Question 5

How does the immune system respond after it has detected pathogenic invaders and raised an alarm?

A) It begins producing antigens to dispose of them.
B) It begins producing antibodies to disarm them
C) it evacuates lymph
D) hemoglobin is mobilized and sent out in the bloodstream to neutralize the invaders
E) it stops circulating leukocytes

Question 6

Which type of immunity is passed to offspring and grows more common in a population as the result of natural selection?

A) complete immunity
B) passive immunity
C) innate immunity
D) adaptive immunity
E) community immunity

Question 7

An unimmunized newborn baby and a immune-compromised grownup with cancer both are protected from measles by others who have been immunized against measles. This is an example of ____ in action:

A) passive immunity
B) herd immunity
C) innate immunity
D) the immunological triangle
E) epidemiology

Question 8

The ability of some individuals to find pleasure in tobacco, cannabis, and certain other plant-based substances could have evolved in response to or as a side effect of:

A) past populations' infection with helminths (parasitic worms)
B) the existential dread provoked by awareness of death
C) exposure to cowpox among those who work with cattle
D) famine or hunger
E) the invention of flush toilets, soap, and running water

Question 9

Of the diseases listed, which is LEAST 'chronic'?

A) cancer
B) AIDS/HIV
C) cholera
D) tuberculosis
E) cystic fibrosis

Question 10

The idea of using pus or ground up scabs from a smallpox victim to immunize others shows up first in historical records from:

A) China, Turkey, and India
B) Japan
C) Farms in the English countryside
D) Nigerian cattle farmers
E) Australian healers

Question 11

Which is NOT part of the immune system?

A) hemoglobin
B) skin
C) leukocytes (phagocytes and lymphocytes)
D) antigens
E) antibodies

Question 12

Which of the following can support pathogen 'attenuation'?

A) Vaccination
B) Sanitation
C) Genetic adaptation in the host
D) New hygiene habits such as mask-wearing
E) These all may support attenuation.

Question 13

From a ______ point of view, El Tor (a strain of cholera) is well-adapted to its present environment.

A) disease ecology
B) biologically deterministic
C) culturally deterministic
D) political economy
E) intersectional

Question 14

Parents warn their child not to touch a chipmunk because it may be covered in ticks or fleas, which could carry dangerous pathogens. This chipmunk would thus be a/an:

A) reservoir host
B) ghost host
C) antigen
D) conductance regulator
E) zoonosis generator

Question 15

The 'epidemiological triangle' demonstrates:

A) the multidirectional relationships between a host, an agent, and an environment.
B) the hierarchical relationships between reservoirs, hosts, and toxins.
C) the multidirectional relationships between environments, agents, and sanitation.
D) the dynamic relationship between biology, culture, and environment.
E) the co-evolutionary link between humans, animals, and plants.

Question 16

Casey Roulette and other scientists' research on tobacco and cannabis (marijuana) use and helminth infections suggests that:

A) most traditional cultures frown on smoking or ingesting tobacco or cannabis.
B) tobacco and cannabis contain helminth agents.
C) helminth infections are caused by genetic changes resulting from habitual tobacco and cannabis use.
D) tobacco/cannabis use may provide a nonimmunological defense against helminths.
E) no answer offered is correct.

Question 17

Foragers didn't have the same problems we do today with epidemic let alone pandemic diseases in part because they

A) did not store harvested crops
B) socialized with those who worked on mercantile trade ships.
C) did not roam about their native lands
D) were frequently malnourished
E) lived in crowded quarters, where there were many people to act as reservoirs

Question 18

In addition to being transported in blood, immune system cells are transported and stored in our:

A) salivary fluid.
B) sweat or perspiration.
C) lymph (lymphatic fluid or system).
D) bile or bilious fluid.
E) miasmic fluid.

Question 19

What is the difference between 'passive' and 'adaptive' immunity?

A) Passive immunity belongs to the individual at birth; adaptive immunity is acquired afterwards.
B) Passive immunity is gained from breastmilk; adaptive immunity is gained after exposure to a germ through inoculation or vaccination.
C) Passive immunity may be shaped by exposure to disease; adaptive immunity is built to resist such diseases in the first place.
D) Passive immunity is epigenetic; adaptive immunity is genetically inherited.
E) Passive immunity is genetically inherited; adaptive immunity is epigenetic.

Question 20

What is the difference between 'acute' and 'chronic' diseases or conditions?

A) Chronic diseases last longer than acute diseases.
B) Germs cause acute diseases, while chronic diseases are genetic.
C) Chronic diseases attack the immune system, which acute diseases do not.
D) Chronic diseases are rooted in childhood hygiene, while acute diseases are not.
E) Chronic diseases are fatal, while acute diseases are not.

Question 21

What is the difference between 'endemic' and 'epidemic' diseases?

A) Endemic diseases last longer than epidemic diseases.
B) Endemic diseases are native to a given population or area and exist in some kind of balance with their hosts, while epidemic diseases are/do not.
C) Endemic diseases affect individuals, while epidemics affect populations.
D) Endemic diseases affect populations, while epidemics affect individuals.
E) There is no difference.

Question 22

'Epidemics' are more likely to form in which of the following kinds of populations and why?

A) large populations, because there are more people to support the transmission of disease
B) large populations, because they have multiple links between people
C) small populations, because each person is more likely to come in contact with the disease
D) small populations, because the disease needs to infect only a few people to infect the whole population
E) small populations, because disease is more fatal in small groups

Question 23

Extending the Red Queen metaphor to explain the effects that adopting an agricultural lifestyle has on human biocultural experience highlights:

A) how, to survive, our ancestors had to constantly adapt to the side effects brought about by adopting agriculture.
B) the inapplicability of the 'niche construction' concept.
C) the stability of the environment.
D) how power struggles over who will rule a group drive social change.
E) the real division between nature and nurture.

Question 24

The adaptation selected for in some populations in response to cholera is most analogous to (most like) the adaptation some populations have to which of the following diseases?

A) malaria
B) smallpox
C) HIV
D) rickets
E) TB

Question 25

The emergence of the H1N1 virus and malaria can both be traced to which of the following?

A) adaptation to other diseases in very specific geographic climates
B) unsanitary conditions in certain areas, which spread to more sanitary areas
C) a mutation that allows a germ adapted to a non-human animal host to infect the human body
D) a low immunity to related diseases in specific geographic areas
E) All answers are incorrect.

Question 26

The emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB is explained by:

A) the Red Queen hypothesis.
B) macroevolution.
C) industrial melanism.
D) radioactivity.
E) genetic drift.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT true in regard to the bubonic plague of the middle ages?

A) The rats were reservoir hosts.
B) The fleas were vectors.
C) The rats were vectors.
D) Bubonic plague spread through trade.
E) Bubonic plague was infectious.

Question 28

All of the following are necessary for an epidemic to occur, EXCEPT:

A) there must be survivors.
B) there must be a mechanism of contagion.
C) there must be a large population to support transmission.
D) the agent must be bacterial.
E) there must be live hosts for the pathogen.

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT one of the kinds of immunity that we studied?

A) passive immunity
B) innate immunity
C) active immunity
D) adaptive immunity
E) No answer is correct; we studied all four kinds of immunity.

Question 30

An infant acquiring antibodies through breast milk from breastfeeding is an example of which kind of immunity?

A) complete immunity
B) passive immunity
C) innate immunity
D) adaptive immunity
E) external immunity

Question 31

The definition of 'epidemiology' is:

A) the study of the epidermis and its functions in health.
B) the study of disease distribution and its determinants.
C) the study of epigenetics and genetics.
D) the study of bones and skeletal remains.
E) the act of spreading disease.

Question 32

'Leukocytes' are:

A) antibodies.
B) cells that help fight and get rid of foreign invaders in the body.
C) cells that make up the walls of the circulatory system.
D) red blood cells.
E) biochemicals that provide immunity after immunization.

Question 33

'Antibodies' help the body fight specific pathogens by:

A) eating them.
B) transmembrane conductance regulation.
C) converting themselves to antigens, which kill. phagocytes/macrophages.
D) attaching to the pathogen's antigens and thereby 'flagging down' phagocytes/macrophages.
E) pumping up a person's red blood-cell count.

Question 34

'Phagocytes' and 'lymphocytes' are two types of:

A) epidemes.
B) antigens.
C) antibodies.
D) leukocytes.
E) hemoglobin.

Question 35

Which immune system cells eat or ingest invaders (pathogens)?

A) phagocytes
B) antigens
C) antibodies
D) leukocytes
E) lymphocytes

Question 36

Some people reject immunizations due to an infamous but fraudulent (faked) study that:

A) linked smallpox to childhood immunization practices.
B) found that cowpox exposure helps people to fight off smallpox.
C) falsely linked autism to childhood immunization practices.
D) found a link between childhood immunization and death.
E) linked immunizations to loss of intelligence.

Question 37

People in ancient China, India, and Turkey innouculated against smallpox by:

A) the historically early use of needle-tipped syringes.
B) dragging a string loaded with cowpox through a cut on a child's arm.
C) blowing smallpox scab powder into a person's nose or cutting his/her skin and jabbing in fluid collected from a pustule on a person with a mild smallpox infection.
D) blending fluid collected from smallpox pustules with llama milk and then drinking that.
E) No answer is correct; they did not know enough to innoculate themselves.

Question 38

'Innate immunity' is aquired via:

A) natural selection.
B) immunization.
C) innoculation or vaccination.
D) developmental adjustment.
E) breastfeeding.

Question 39

'Adaptive immunity' is aquired via:

A) natural selection.
B) a selective advantage.
C) innoculation or vaccination.
D) developmental adjustment.
E) breastfeeding.

Question 40

Which of the following happens in the next generation after exposure to a disease at the population level?

A) adaptive immunity
B) innate immunity
C) passive immunity
D) jural immunity
E) community immunity

Question 41

Technically speaking, the immunity that an infant gets from breastfeeding is called:

A) passive immunity.
B) active immunity.
C) antigen protein immunity.
D) adaptive immunity.
E) innate immunity.

Question 42

_______ has been directly associated with the recent rise in asthma rates.

A) Soil depletion
B) The misuse of DOT medication regimens
C) Our contaminated water supply
D) The high numbers of bug particles now found in peanut butter
E) Over-sanitation (hyper-hygiene, hyper-sanitation)

Question 43

The 'hygiene hypothesis' supports which of the following statements?

A) Children exposed to fewer microbes have fewer allergies and less asthma.
B) Conditions prior to the agricultural revolution were actually more hygienic than today.
C) Environments that are too sterile lower the tolerance of the immune system, leading to more athma and allergies.
D) Immunity to specific diseases requires a sterile birth environment.
E) Contagious diseases spread when people practice poor hygiene.

Question 44

Which of the following makes a disease 'infectious'?

A) It is caused by a microbial agent.
B) It is long term.
C) It is short term, often with a cure.
D) It can be vaccinated against.
E) It has no vector or agent.

Question 45

If a virus is transmitted from a mouse to a human, riding on/in a mosquito, then what is the role of the mosquito?

A) host
B) agent
C) vector
D) reservoir
E) pathogen

Question 46

An 'environmental reservoir' can best be described or defined as:

A) a large water storage tank.
B) a place in the environment where a germ can, in effect, be stored.
C) an organism that spreads a germ from one host to another.
D) germ hosts that are not living organisms.
E) an ecological preserve.

Question 47

What are the three main dimensions or features of the 'Epidemiological Triangle'? (What labels go on the three tips?)

A) host, agent, germ.
B) agent, host, environment.
C) environment, climate, agent.
D) agent, resevoir host, vector.
E) environment, time, pathogen.

Question 48

Which of the following terms describes a disease with sudden or relatively quick onset?

A) acute
B) chronic
C) rapid
D) terminal
E) infectious

Question 49

Which of the following terms describes a disease that has been in a population for a long time, and that is infecting population members at a constant rate?

A) endemic
B) epidemic
C) syndemic
D) pandemic
E) epidural

Question 50

A disease that sweeps quickly around the world can best be termed a or an:

A) endemic.
B) epidemic.
C) syndemic.
D) pandemic.
E) epidural.

Question 51

Sedentism is associated in what way with infectious disease?

A) As sedentism goes up, infectious disease rates go up, too.
B) As sedentism goes up, infectious disease rates go down.
C) As sedentism goes up, infectious disease rates stay stable.
D) As sedentism goes down, infectious disease rates stay stable.
E) As sedentism goes down, infectious disease rates go up.

Question 52

What is the reason that infectious disease is such a problem for settled people?

A) Many settled agriculturalists were malnourished.
B) More people living together means more chances for disease transmission.
C) With sedentism, there are more resevoirs of disease.
D) Trade between settlements provides an opportunity for a pathogen to travel.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 53

'Disease ecology' is best defined as:

A) a perspective that focuses on the influence of geopolitical relations, power structures, and political economy on the spread of disease.
B) a close-up perspective on the immediate or proximal environment and context in which germs spread.
C) a broad perspective that looks at how societies are linked.
D) a perspective that is more ecological and therefore more focused on conservation of diverse species.
E) a close-up perspective on what threatens an ecosystem.

Question 54

When we focus on the 'proximate' environment of a disease and on the context in which its pathogens are spread, what theoretical framework are we adopting?

A) disease ecology
B) political economy
C) structural functionalism
D) holism
E) historical particularism

Question 55

A 'zoonotic' disease is:

A) a disease that only animals contract and that cannot pass to humans.
B) a human disease that originated in an animal species.
C) a disease that only occurs in zoos.
D) a disease that only affects zoo animals.
E) a disease that does not kill its victims but leaves them with few human capacities (leaves them like a lower animal).

Question 56

When studying disease from the perspective of 'disease ecology', one looks at:

A) broad connections between populations and disease transmission.
B) the effects of disease on the individual level and how it is experienced.
C) the immediate environmental context in which germs spread and thrive.
D) the effects of the disease on a community.
E) the effects of disease on local politics.

Question 57

Native American populations contracted many diseases from the invading Europeans. Why did the Europeans not contract diseases from the Native Americans?

A) The vertical landmass of America is much less adapted to support epidemic disease than the long horizontally stretching continent of Eurasia.
B) The European farmers' interactions with livestock created ideal situations for zoonosis while the Native Americans' interactions with livestock did not.
C) The explorers who came over had already been exposed to, and so had already gained immunity to, American diseases.
D) European immune systems were more highly developed than Native Americans'.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 58

People who ______ can be somewhat protected from smallpox.

A) have no exposure to cowpox
B) stay away from farm animals
C) raise llamas and whose ancestors raised llamas
D) raise cattle and whose ancestors raised cattle
E) use mosquito repellent and drain standing water

Question 59

Llamas may have been a poor source of harmful pathogens for native South Americans in part because people:

A) shared close quarters with llamas.
B) drank llama milk.
C) kept very large llama herds.
D) kept their distance from the llamas, relatively speaking.
E) did not keep llamas; they kept cows.

Question 60

People who have ______ can be somewhat protected from cholera (without having the related genetically-determined illness).

A) porotic hyperostosis
B) one porotic gene
C) one sickle cell gene
D) two cystic fibrosis genes
E) one cystic fibrosis gene

Question 61

Toxins from cholera bacteria attack:

A) the structures that regulate fluid transmission across the intestine's membrane.
B) the lungs, where they form little lesions that lead to coughing and consumption.
C) the immune system.
D) red blood cell membranes, causing them to collapse.
E) the liver, and then they lay spiny eggs that cause health problems.

Question 62

Which of the following diseases entails intense unabated diarrhea and immense dehydration?

A) cholera
B) smallpox
C) cowpox
D) bubonic plague
E) malaria

Question 63

What advantage does a germ have by 'attenuating'?

A) It will be able to kill the host faster.
B) It can stay for a longer period of time in the host, ensuring that a host will not survive.
C) It allows a larger number of hosts to survive, which in turn can supply the germ with a larger population of potential hosts as well as more transmission time.
D) It will be able to take more nutrients from its host, allowing it to be more successful in reproducing more germs.
E) It maximizes its impact on the host to speed up incubation and the appearance of syptoms.

Question 64

Much like what probably happened with the germ that now causes the common cold, cholera has evolved a new strain (El Tor) that:

A) is more fragile than the classic/original strain is after leaving the human body.
B) is much deadlier than the classic or original strain.
C) is less deadly than the classic or original strain.
D) is likely to emerge as a pandemic threat.
E) is zoonotic.

Question 65

Firmly establishing 'herd immunity' or 'community immunity' in a population requires

A) vaccinating the bulk of a community so that those who cannot be vaccinated and have weak immune systems have a very low likelihood of exposure
B) social marketing to the crowd
C) vaccinating those people who are at risk for the disease in question
D) eradicating zoonotic diseases before they can infect humans
E) use of sheep plasma in vaccine preparation

Question 66

A vaccine-preventable disease could become extinct if everyone got vaccinated for it because

A) there would be no available human hosts in whom it might thrive and from whom it might spread
B) actually, diseases (the germs that cause them) never become extinct
C) they would develop innate immunity to the disease
D) vaccination works by killing germs or pathogens
E) vaccination creates transmembrane conductance regulators in the body, which can shut down targeted pathogens/germs

Question 67

The main enabler for 'zoonotic' diseases to spill or cross over into the human species is:

A) habitat encroachment
B) hand washing
C) urban beekeeping
D) a lack of hygiene
E) ecosystem services preservation