Deck 12: Communicable Diseases

Question 1

Which diseases would require a nurse in Canada to complete a notifiable disease report?

A) Chickenpox, pediculosis, scarlet fever, smallpox
B) AIDS, measles, pertussis, tuberculosis
C) Chlamydia, hepatitis B, rhinovirus, smallpox
D) Botulism, hantavirus, mumps, roseola

Answer 1

AIDS, measles, pertussis, tuberculosis

Question 2

A nurse is planning a primary prevention measure for the school-aged population against a communicable disease. What strategy best fits this goal?

A) Case finding children who may have been exposed to a teacher with hepatitis A
B) Counselling families about ways to treat head lice
C) Working toward achieving high immunization rates for hepatitis B
D) Administering tuberculosis (TB) medications to children with the disease

Answer 2

Working toward achieving high immunization rates for hepatitis B

Question 3

Which population is at a higher risk for transmitting drug-resistant infections to others?

A) Inmates
B) Elderly admitted to hospital
C) School-aged children
D) People with prolonged illnesses

Answer 3

People with prolonged illnesses

Question 4

What was the most likely causes of death in the 1900s?

A) Influenza
B) Heart disease
C) Bubonic plague
D) Diarrhea

Question 5

A nurse is screening clients at a local health centre for tuberculosis after a recent outbreak in Vancouver. Which client response would constitute an immediate quarantine and notification of the local public health department?

A) Has travelled within the last 10 days to Ontario and has nausea and vomiting
B) Has been in contact with a health care worker from Vancouver and has a chronic gastrointestinal upset
C) Has been in contact with a person with active tuberculosis in the last 5 weeks
D) Has not travelled to an area of tuberculosis in the last 10 days but has a temperature of 37.5°C

Question 6

What is the key to controlling the number of people that become infected with an organism?

A) Preventing the transmission of communicable diseases
B) Timely screening for communicable diseases
C) Effectively treating communicable diseases
D) Recognizing the signs and symptoms of communicable diseases

Question 7

Which is an example of passive surveillance?

A) A family doctor reporting a positive case of West Nile virus to a local health authority
B) Sentinel systems to identify disease occurrence in the community when individuals present with suggestive symptoms
C) The Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) screening tool used in emergency rooms
D) Absenteeism data related to influenza from all schools in the community

Question 8

At a public health travel clinic, Jasper states that he will be going to work in a developing country. Which waterborne communicable diseases does Jasper need to be vaccinated against?

A) Yellow fever and malaria
B) Rabies and rubella
C) Hepatitis A and B
D) Cholera and typhoid

Question 9

How long have communicable diseases been identified as a part of human life?

A) From the early 13th century
B) Since the mid-1800s
C) As long as people have lived in cities
D) As long as history has been recorded

Question 10

What change had the most influence on the decline in communicable diseases?

A) Improvements in nutrition, sanitation, and living conditions
B) Free medical care and low-cost prescriptions
C) Dissemination of germ theories and access to hospitals
D) Development of vaccines and blood tests

Question 11

What does it mean if invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is endemic?

A) There is a steady presence of the disease in a defined geographic area or population group
B) The new cases of the disease exceed the normal occurrence during a given period of time
C) The occurrence of the disease is higher than what would be expected normally
D) The disease spreads and affects a large number of populations worldwide

Question 12

When must community health nurses complete notifiable disease reports?

A) For a fixed list of communicable diseases determined by the WHO
B) For all communicable diseases in their community
C) For communicable diseases mandated by the federal level
D) For specific communicable diseases that must be reported to local health officials

Question 13

What agency in Canada is responsible for collating all the notifiable communicable disease reports?

A) Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
B) Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
C) Health Canada
D) World Health Organization (WHO), Canadian branch

Question 14

Which of the following classification of communicable diseases represents the public health programs classification?

A) Bacterial, cardiovascular, human
B) Air borne, parasitic, diarrheal
C) Respiratory, zoonotic, water borne
D) Vaccine preventable, perinatal, viral

Question 15

After 2003, SARS was added to the list of diseases that people can be quarantined for in Canada. What does it mean to be quarantined?

A) Restriction of a well person who has been exposed to an infectious agent
B) The time that a person is able to spread the disease over a two-week period
C) Separation of an infectious person for a period of time to reduce the transmission of disease
D) A specific time period that the communicable disease can be transmitted

Question 16

William is a Grade 9 student in British Coloumbia. The nurse has determined that William is up to date on his childhood. What vaccines will William receive today from the nurse?

A) Varicella (Var), haemophilus influenza type b, and hepatitis B (HB)
B) Diptheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio (DTaP-IPV)
C) Diptheria, tetanus, polio, and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib)
D) meningococcal Conjugate (Strains A, C, Y, W135)

Question 17

What is a nurse today likely to encounter while working with clients with tuberculosis (TB)?

A) Increased compliance with chemoprophylaxis
B) Healthy young adults with the disease
C) Multi-drug-resistant strains
D) Easily cured infection with antibiotics

Question 18

A nurse is concerned about a recent outbreak of measles in a group of migrant workers. How would the nurse explain the concept of an outbreak to a new staff member?

A) The disease spreads and affects a large number of the population worldwide
B) Exposure to a specific stressor or cause is most likely to bring on the disease
C) It is a steady presence of a disease in a defined geographical area
D) New cases of a disease are more than the normal occurrence during a given time period

Question 19

What is the purpose of the integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS)?

A) Reporting system that allows jurisdictions within a province to communicate disease patterns
B) A system developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to link Canada and the United States
C) Electronic system to communicate outbreaks of respiratory or enteric illnesses interprovincially
D) An internationally linked computer system for communicating outbreaks globally

Question 20

What was the first recorded worldwide threat from a communicable disease?

A) Bubonic plague
B) Scarlet fever
C) Influenza epidemic of 1918
D) Smallpox

Question 21

Discuss the two reasons to test or screen for a communicable disease

Question 22

Which term is used to describe the collection of data utilizing screening tools, interviews, and sentinel systems to identify disease occurrence in the community when individuals present with suggestive symptoms?

A) Active surveillance
B) Contact tracing
C) Notifiable disease list
D) Passive screening

Question 23

What is an example of a nursing activity that will provide passive immunity to the client?

A) Provide a seasonal influenza vaccine
B) Administer hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG)
C) Give the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) immunization
D) Facilitate the administration of a one-time chemoprophylaxis agent to a vulnerable host

Question 24

Judy is a nurse responsible for managing an outbreak of hepatitis A in a day camp. Outline the steps she would take to manage the outbreak

Question 25

Discuss the importance of herd immunity

Question 26

The public health department has been alerted to a potential outbreak of hepatitis A after eight people who attended a wedding in Mexico have tested positive for the hepatitis A IgM. The public health nurse is now involved in contact tracing. The nurse is interviewing the infected individuals regarding contacts they were exposed to during the incubation of the disease. What is the most likely mode of transmission of the pathogen in this scenario?

A) Drinking water contaminated with the bacteria
B) Ingestion of non-cooked food contaminated by infectious food handlers
C) Direct contact with respiratory droplets from nose or throat of the infected person
D) The bite of an infected mosquito

Question 27

The public health department has been alerted to a potential outbreak of hepatitis A after eight people who attended a wedding in Mexico have tested positive for salmonellosis. What is the incubation period for salmonellosis?

A) 15 to 50 days
B) 6 to 9 hours
C) 12 to 36 hours
D) 60 to 90 days

Question 28

A public health nurse has identified a client who has had contact with an infectious individual who has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis. What term is used to describe the amount of time the client has spent with the infectious individual?

A) Incubation period
B) Degree of exposure
C) Mode of transmission
D) Control measure

Question 29

A Community Health Nurse is engaged in contact tracing. What three main points would he need to consider when identifying contacts?

Question 30

What is Direct Observed Therapy (DOT) and why is this method used in the community setting?