Deck 5: Environmental Health- Eradicating a Parasitic Nightmare: Human Health Is Intricately Linked to the Environment- Consumption and the Environmental Footprint

Question 1

Why is the health of the natural environment one of the biggest influences on human health hazards?

Answer 1

The health of the natural environment has a large influence on the severity and number of human health hazards because we humans have disrupted the Earth's ecosystems to better suit our own needs and wants. This causes the ecosystems to be unbalanced, and as we know from previous chapters, this can cause a lot of problems. In terms of human health, unbalanced ecosystems can select for the overpopulation of a particular pathogen or vector. For example, deforestation increases the breeding grounds for mosquitoes harboring the protozoan that causes malaria or dengue fever virus.

Question 2

Which of the below choices is not a vector-pathogen pairing?

A) mosquitoes : Plasmodium that causes malaria
B) field mice : bacterium that causes Lyme disease
C) tick : bacterium that causes Lyme disease
D) mosquitoes : virus that causes dengue fever
E) copepods : Guinea worm larvae

Answer 2

field mice : bacterium that causes Lyme disease

Question 3

Unfortunately, many environmental hazards are not modifiable.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In a vector-borne disease, the _______ directly causes the disease.

A) vector
B) pathogen
C) human
D) host
E) water

Question 5

What are the variables that a public health epidemiologist has to take into account when devising a plan to mitigate a health threat?

A) economic
B) environmental
C) cultural
D) only A and B
E) A, B, and C

Question 6

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a sexually transmitted disease, is especially prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Given what you know about the variables affecting health threats, why do you think passing out free condoms, which would prevent the spread of the virus, may not be an effective strategy?

Question 7

According to the World Health Organization, how many people fall victim to waterborne diseases each year?

A) 100,000
B) 1,000,000
C) 100,000,000
D) 1,000,000,000
E) none of the above

Question 8

Why does urbanization sometimes lead to the increased incidence of waterborne pathogen infections?

Question 9

Public health epidemiologists study the overall health status of ________.

A) a human population
B) a human individual
C) all organisms
D) an ecosystem
E) any organism pathogenic to humans

Question 10

Environmental health is a branch of public health that focuses on health hazards in ___________.?

A) only natural environments
B) only human-built environments
C) both natural and human-built environments
D) contaminated water, air, and soil
E) drinking water

Question 11

Why is it difficult to map cause-and-effect relationships of human hazards and disease?

Question 12

Why do you think such a high proportion of diarrheal diseases can be attributed to environmental factors?

Question 13

Which human activity has not influenced the prevalence and seriousness of health hazards?

A) deforestation
B) urbanization
C) dam building
D) habitat fragmentation
E) All of these options have influenced the prevalence and seriousness of human health hazards.

Question 14

Waterborne and _______ diseases are the main infectious disease threats to human health.

A) airborne
B) chemical hazard
C) vector-borne
D) physical hazard
E) biological hazard

Question 15

How might washing your hands lead to a human health threat?

Question 16

Infectious diseases are a type of ______.

A) physical hazard
B) chemical hazard
C) biological hazard
D) human-caused hazard
E) Infectious diseases are not hazardous.

Question 17

Infographic 5.3.

Refer to Infographic 5.3. Which disease is completely due to environmental factors?

A) asthma
B) dengue Fever
C) malaria
D) diarrhea
E) intestinal nematode infections

Question 18

Which of the organisms listed below causes disease in humans?

A) fungi
B) bacteria
C) viruses
D) worms
E) All of the above.

Question 19

How might poor water quality be a result of all the variable types of a population-that is, cultural and social factors, economic stability or instability, and environmental factors?

Question 20

What is an example of a cultural variable that may influence the plan of action for a particular health threat?

A) water cleanliness
B) habitat fragmentation
C) average income of the population affected
D) religious beliefs
E) All of these options are examples of cultural variables.

Question 21

Emerging infectious diseases are:

A) diseases new to humans.
B) illnesses that are not transmissible between people.
C) diseases that have established themselves in the natural world.
D) all zoonotic.
E) None of these answers are correct.

Question 22

In the chapter, Nabil Aziz Mikhail says that war is the one human behavior that favors Guinea worm disease (GWD) more than bathing in infested water. Why do you think that is?

Question 23

People in less developed nations are more likely to die of:

A) noncommunicable diseases.
B) infectious diseases.
C) lifestyle choices.
D) cancer.
E) a heart attack.

Question 24

Infographic 5.6
Of the top 10 causes of death in low-income countries in 2012 (Infographic 5.6), how many are likely caused by infectious disease agents like bacteria, viruses, and parasites?

A) 3
B) 5
C) 7
D) 9
E) They are all caused by infectious disease agents.

Question 25

A zoonotic disease is one that:

A) occurs in zoos and other artificial environments.
B) can spread between one infected animal to another, but cannot be spread to humans.
C) can spread between infected animals and humans.
D) is an emerging infectious disease.
E) is caused by environmental changes that are usually caused by humans.

Question 26

In 2006 the death rate from environmentally mediated diseases was how much greater in less developed countries than more developed countries?

A) 5 times
B) 8 times
C) 10 times
D) 12 times
E) 20 times

Question 27

Which pathogen/disease pair is correct?

A) plasmodium/Guinea worm disease
B) dengue virus/malaria
C) Vibrio cholerae/cholera
D) contaminated water/ringworm
E) Tinea corporis/dengue fever

Question 28

Why is Guinea worm disease (GWD) not a zoonotic disease?

Question 29

In Guinea worm disease (GWD), which organism is a vector?

A) humans
B) copepods
C) Guinea worms
D) contaminated water
E) All of the above are vectors.

Question 30

Why do you think 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic?

Question 31

Which prevention action is likely to have the greatest effect on reducing the death rate in less developed countries?

A) diet
B) clean water
C) exercise
D) strict industrial pollution regulations
E) regular medical checkups

Question 32

Infographic 5.6.

Refer to Infographic 5.6. In order of highest impact to lowest impact, what causes deaths in high-income countries?

A) lung cancer > stroke > breast cancer > diabetes
B) diabetes > lung infections > COPD > heart attack
C) stroke > colon cancer > hypertension > breast cancer
D) heart attack > stroke > COPD > Alzheimer's disease
E) colon cancer > diabetes > hypertension > lung infections

Question 33

Guinea worm disease (GWD) in humans is caused by:

A) direct burrowing of the worm into a person's foot.
B) drinking contaminated water containing adult Guinea worms.
C) drinking contaminated water containing copepods infected with Guinea worm larvae.
D) human-to-human contact (i.e., an infected human can transmit the worms directly to another uninfected human).
E) drinking contaminated water containing copepods.

Question 34

What might be some reasons why diarrheal disease is not one of the top 10 causes of death in high-income countries?

Question 35

Zoonotic diseases are impacted by:

A) bushmeat trade.
B) environmental changes.
C) human encroachment into wild areas.
D) climate change.
E) All of these answers are correct.

Question 36

What is one way to prevent Guinea worm disease (GWD)?

A) Educate the human population about GWD and ways to prevent it.
B) Kill copepods with pesticides.
C) Drink filtered water.
D) Avoid immersing GWD blisters in water.
E) All of the above are ways to prevent GWD.

Question 37

Infographic 5.5.

Refer to Infographic 5.5. Of the prevention methods mentioned in the graphic, which do you think would have the largest impact on Guinea worm disease (GWD) eradication?

Question 38

Why is the eradication of Guinea worm disease (GWD) possible?

Question 39

Guinea worm disease is an example of a zoonotic disease.

Question 40

How might challenges to prevent Guinea worm disease (GWD) in a low-income country be similar to challenges to prevent cardiovascular disease in a high-income country?

Question 41

What do you think has had the greatest impact on eradicating Guinea worm disease?

Question 43

Infographic 5.6.

Which prevention method would have the greatest impact on reducing the death rate in low-income countries? (Refer to Infographic 5.6.)

A) access to clean water
B) vector exposure reduction
C) education
D) effective public policy
E) air pollution reduction

Question 44

How would your actions of taking the entire prescription of an antibiotic potentially help individuals living on the other side of the world?

Question 45

Who must support the prevention of environmentally mediated health problems for the efforts to be successful?

A) the at-risk communities themselves
B) international communities
C) more developed countries
D) A, B, and C must all support the efforts.
E) The efforts need no support.

Question 46

Which prevention method(s) would be most effective in the eradication of Guinea worm disease?

A) reducing air pollution
B) providing access to clean water
C) ceasing all war
D) using solar stoves for cooking
E) planting runoff gardens near bodies of water

Question 47

Why is it important to get affected community buy-in when trying to reduce environmental health hazards (or any kind of hazard, for that matter)?

Question 48

Guinea worm disease is close to total eradication, what is the only other infectious disease to have been eradicated?

A) HIV/AIDS
B) tuberculosis
C) small pox
D) lung cancer
E) No other infectious disease has ever been eradicated.

Question 49

Giving outhouses to communities is always an effective strategy to prevent diarrheal disease.

Question 50

What is an obstacle to the eradication of Guinea worm disease?

A) indifference
B) political issues
C) human stubbornness
D) poverty
E) all of the above

Question 51

In 1986 there were over 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm disease. How many cases were reported in 2013?

A) under 150
B) 500
C) 10,000
D) 50,000
E) over 100,000