Infection questions

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Infection question collection

Review Infection questions for Biology, with correct answers shown and coverage across bacteria, viruses, fungi and protists; spread of disease; immune system responses.

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Question 1

What is a pathogen?
  1. A microorganism that causes disease
  2. A white blood cell that destroys microbes
  3. A chemical used in vaccination
  4. A nutrient needed for immune function

Question 2

Which pathogen group reproduces inside host cells?
  1. Viruses
  2. Bacteria
  3. Fungi
  4. Protists

Question 3

Malaria is caused by which type of pathogen?
  1. Protist
  2. Virus
  3. Bacterium
  4. Fungus

Question 4

What is measles caused by?
  1. Virus
  2. Bacterium
  3. Fungus
  4. Protist

Question 5

How is Salmonella food poisoning usually spread?
  1. Contaminated food
  2. Airborne droplets
  3. Sexual contact
  4. Mosquito vectors

Question 6

How is gonorrhoea mainly treated?
  1. With antibiotics
  2. With antihistamines
  3. With vaccines after infection
  4. With painkillers

Question 7

Why can gonorrhoea become difficult to treat?
  1. Resistant strains survive antibiotic treatment
  2. Viral strains hide inside host cells
  3. Fungal strains produce protective spores
  4. Human cells become resistant to the medicine

Question 8

Why do antibiotics not treat viral infections?
  1. Viruses lack the bacterial processes they target
  2. Viruses are larger than antibiotic molecules
  3. Viruses reproduce too slowly for treatment
  4. Viruses neutralise every drug with antibodies

Question 9

Who discovered penicillin?
  1. Alexander Fleming
  2. Edward Jenner
  3. Louis Pasteur
  4. Robert Koch

Question 10

What do painkillers do during an infection?
  1. Reduce symptoms without killing the pathogen
  2. Kill bacteria without reducing symptoms
  3. Destroy viruses inside host cells
  4. Produce antibodies against the pathogen

Question 11

Which body feature acts as a physical barrier against pathogens?
  1. Skin
  2. Red blood cells
  3. Platelets
  4. Insulin

Question 12

What does mucus in the airways do?
  1. Traps pathogens and particles
  2. Moves trapped material toward the throat
  3. Engulfs pathogens by phagocytosis
  4. Carries oxygen into the blood

Question 13

What is phagocytosis?
  1. A white blood cell engulfing and digesting a pathogen
  2. A lymphocyte producing a specific antibody
  3. An antibody binding to a specific antigen
  4. A memory cell responding to a familiar antigen

Question 14

Which antibody feature determines antigen specificity?
  1. Complementary binding-site shape
  2. Identical electrical charge
  3. Matching DNA sequence
  4. Larger molecular size

Question 15

How does widespread vaccination reduce disease transmission?
  1. Fewer susceptible hosts pass on the pathogen
  2. Vaccinated hosts remove mutations from the pathogen
  3. Antibiotics spread between vaccinated hosts
  4. Pathogens stop entering the vaccinated population

Question 16

Why are monoclonal antibodies useful in diagnosis?
  1. They bind one specific target molecule
  2. They bind every molecule in a sample
  3. They destroy any pathogen they contact
  4. They create memory cells after testing

Question 17

How can rose black spot reduce plant growth?
  1. Damaged leaves carry out less photosynthesis
  2. Damaged leaves absorb more mineral ions
  3. Dark spots increase chlorophyll production
  4. Fungal spores increase sugar transport

Question 18

How can tobacco mosaic virus spread between plants?
  1. Direct contact and insect vectors
  2. Airborne fungal spores and rain splash
  3. Contaminated soil and root grafts
  4. Pollen transfer and seed dispersal

Question 19

How can aphids reduce crop yield?
  1. By transmitting plant pathogens
  2. By fixing nitrogen in root nodules
  3. By pollinating flowers between plants
  4. By decomposing dead leaves in soil

Question 20

Which practice helps slow antibiotic resistance?
  1. Using antibiotics only when prescribed
  2. Using antibiotics for viral infections
  3. Stopping a course when symptoms improve
  4. Sharing leftover antibiotics with another person

Question 21

What is a communicable disease?
  1. A disease that can spread between organisms
  2. A disease caused only by diet
  3. Any genetic condition
  4. A non-infectious injury

Question 22

What do cilia in the airways do?
  1. Move pathogen-filled mucus toward the throat
  2. Produce mucus that traps pathogens
  3. Engulf pathogens inside the airways
  4. Absorb oxygen into the bloodstream

Question 23

How is malaria commonly transmitted?
  1. By mosquitoes acting as vectors
  2. Through air droplets
  3. By eating plants
  4. By a lack of vitamins

Question 24

What is a vector?
  1. An organism that carries a pathogen between hosts
  2. A protein that binds to a pathogen's antigen
  3. A cell that engulfs and digests pathogens
  4. A drug that kills bacterial pathogens

Question 25

Which cells are attacked by HIV?
  1. Helper T lymphocytes
  2. Red blood cells
  3. Platelets
  4. Sensory neurones

Question 26

Why can vaccination produce a faster response to later infection?
  1. Memory lymphocytes recognise the antigen
  2. Platelets recognise the pathogen's DNA
  3. Red blood cells retain the vaccine
  4. Phagocytes prevent the pathogen mutating

Question 27

What is antibiotic resistance?
  1. Resistant bacteria survive and reproduce
  2. A person becoming immune to an antibiotic
  3. Viruses becoming resistant to antibiotics
  4. A vaccine losing its effectiveness

Question 28

What do antiviral drugs target?
  1. Viral replication
  2. Bacterial cell walls
  3. Fungal cell membranes
  4. Pain receptors

Question 29

What is a monoclonal antibody preparation?
  1. Identical antibodies targeting one antigen
  2. Different antibodies targeting many antigens
  3. Identical antigens activating many lymphocytes
  4. Different antibiotics targeting one bacterium

Question 30

What must drug testing establish before routine use?
  1. Safety, effective dose and effectiveness
  2. Safety, manufacturing speed and effectiveness
  3. Toxicity, package size and effective dose
  4. Effectiveness, retail price and effective dose

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Review Infection questions for Biology, with correct answers shown and coverage across bacteria, viruses, fungi and protists; spread of disease; immune system responses.

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