Chapter 14 (Unit 4 Exam)

Question 1

Vaccines go through several phases before approval by the FDA, including Phase I (small group of volunteers), Phase II (larger group), Phase III (even larger group of people), and if approved, Phase _______.

Answer 1

IV

Explanation: After a vaccine is licensed and distributed to the public, Phase IV trials may be conducted to monitor the vaccine’s long-term efficacy and safety.

Question 2

Florence Nightingale used __________ to improve health conditions during the Crimean War.

Answer 2

Answer: statistics

Explanation: Florence Nightingale was among the first to collect and use health, disease, and death statistics to implement changes and improve public health conditions.

Question 3

The term ‘epidemic’ is used when the prevalence of a disease __________ beyond what is expected for a population.

Answer 3

Answer: increases

Explanation: An epidemic occurs when the statistics indicate that the prevalence (or number of cases) of a disease increases beyond what is typically expected for that population.

Question 4

What is the primary role of epidemiology?

A) Treat individual patients
B) Study diseases in populations
C) Provide primary care
D) Develop new medicines

Answer 4

B) Study diseases in populations

Explanation: Epidemiology is concerned with the study of diseases within populations, rather than treating individual patients. It looks at the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations.

Question 5

Name three types of study designs in epidemiology: _______, _______, and _______.

Answer 5

Cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, cohort studies

Explanation: Cross-sectional studies assess both exposure and disease status at a single point in time. Case-control studies compare individuals with a disease to those without to identify prior exposures. Cohort studies follow a group over time to measure the development of disease.

Question 6

What is the difference between incidence and prevalence?

A) Incidence is the total number of new cases, while prevalence is the total number of existing cases.
B) Incidence is the total number of existing cases, while prevalence is the total number of new cases.
C) Incidence can be measured over time, but prevalence cannot.
D) Incidence is a measure of death rate, while prevalence is a measure of disease spread.

Answer 6

A) Incidence is the total number of new cases, while prevalence is the total number of existing cases.

Explanation: Incidence refers to the number of new cases of a disease that occur in a specified period among a population at risk, while prevalence is the total number of cases of a disease existing in a population at a specific time.

Question 7

Florence Nightingale and John Snow were influential in the development of statistical methods in medicine.

A) True
B) False

Answer 7

A) True

Both Florence Nightingale and John Snow were early epidemiologists whose work heavily relied on the use of statistics. Nightingale used statistical methods to improve sanitation and reduce mortality rates, and Snow used maps and statistics to identify the source of cholera outbreaks.

Question 8

Infectious disease surveillance involves keeping track of disease incidence in

A) both
B) when there is not an epidemic occurring.
C) times of epidemic.

Answer 8

A) both

Question 9

Which of the following diseases is considered reemerging?

A) Smallpox
B) Influenza
C) SARS
D) Measles

Answer 9

D) Measles

Explanation: Measles is considered a reemerging disease, which means it was under control or eliminated in some areas but has become prevalent again due to factors like decreased vaccination rates or travel.

Question 10

How do screening tests differ from diagnostic tests?

Options:
A) Screening tests are used to confirm the presence of a disease, while diagnostic tests are used for early detection.
B) Screening tests are used for early detection in a large number of people, while diagnostic tests confirm the presence of a disease in individuals.
C) Diagnostic tests are done before screening tests.
D) Screening tests can diagnose a disease, while diagnostic tests cannot.

Answer 10

B) Screening tests are used for early detection in a large number of people, while diagnostic tests confirm the presence of a disease in individuals.

Explanation: Screening tests are preliminary tests designed to identify potential indicators of disease in asymptomatic individuals. Diagnostic tests are more definitive and are used to confirm or determine the presence of disease in symptomatic individuals.

Question 11

What is the role of surveillance in public health?

A) To provide treatment to individuals with diseases
B) To conduct research on new pharmaceuticals
C) To collect and analyze data on disease occurrence and spread
D) To directly administer vaccines to the population

Answer 11

C) To collect and analyze data on disease occurrence and spread

Explanation: Public health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice.

Question 12

Which of these is a designator of cumulative cases of disease in a population?

A) Propagators
B) Diagnoses
C) Incidence
D) Prevalence

Answer 12

D) Prevalence

Question 13

You can expect that mRNA vaccines result in the production of _________blank in host cells.

A) viral protein
B) host protein
C) viral DNA
D) host DNA

Answer 13

A) viral protein

Question 14

The natural history of a disease starts with the clinical disease stage.

A) True
B) False

Answer 14

B) False

Explanation: The natural history of a disease actually begins before the clinical stage. It includes the initial exposure of a susceptible host, followed by a subclinical stage where changes may not yet be apparent, leading up to the clinical disease stage when symptoms become apparent.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a function of the CDC?

Options:
A) Slow the spread of malaria
B) Regulate pharmaceutical companies
C) Track infectious diseases
D) Conduct public health outreach

Answer 15

B) Regulate pharmaceutical companies

Explanation: The CDC is involved in controlling the spread of diseases, tracking infectious and some non-infectious diseases, and conducting public health outreach. However, regulating pharmaceutical companies is not a function of the CDC.

Question 16

Question: Herd immunity can be achieved only through vaccination.

A) True
B) False

Answer 16

B) False

Explanation: Herd immunity occurs when a significant portion of a community becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. This can be achieved through vaccination and/or by enough people acquiring immunity after recovering from the disease.

Question 17

A seasonal outbreak of influenza would be what type of outbreak?

Multiple Choice
A) None of the choices are correct.
B) Common-source epidemic
C) Propagated epidemic
D) Point-source epidemic

Answer 17

C) Propagated epidemic

Explanation: A propagated epidemic results from an infectious agent that is communicable from person to person and therefore is sustained (propagated) over time in a population.

Question 18

This person is carrying hepatitis A and does not practice safety at their restaurant job. What type of epidemic may result?

A) Point-source epidemic
B) No epidemic because they are in the recovery phase.
C) Common-source epidemic
D) Propagated epidemic

Answer 18

C) Common-source epidemic

Explanation: A common-source epidemic results when a single source transmits an infection over a period of time, such as in this case of a chronic carrier.

Question 19

The basic reproduction rate (R0) refers to the number of deaths caused by a disease.

A) True
B) False

Answer 19

B) False

Explanation: The basic reproduction rate (R0) is the average number of people to whom a single infected person will transmit the infection in a population of susceptible individuals. The case fatality rate (CFR) is the proportion of individuals diagnosed with a disease who die from that disease.

Question 20

Which is more appropriate to calculate at the very beginning of a pandemic, the basic reproduction rate or the effective reproduction rate?

Multiple Choice
A) Basic reproduction rate
B) Effective reproduction rate

Answer 20

A) Basic reproduction rate

Question 21

A ______ epidemic is when the infectious agent came from a single source, and all victims were exposed at the same time.

Answer 21

Point-source

Explanation: A point-source epidemic refers to a scenario where all the individuals become exposed to the infectious agent from a single source at one point in time, such as a contaminated batch of food.

Question 22

The four most important categories of healthcare-associated infection are catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), surgical site infections (SSI), and __________.

Answer 22

Ventilator-Associated Events (VAE)

Explanation: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for other conditions within a healthcare setting. The four main types include CAUTI, CLABSI, SSI, and VAE, which are significant for their frequency, impact on morbidity, and sometimes mortality, as well as their preventability.

Question 23

Emerging infectious diseases of humans generally come from

A) ocean microbes.
B) animals.
C) soil microbes.
D) other humans.

Answer 23

B) animals.

Question 24

What is the primary difference between the practice of medicine and epidemiology?
Options:
A) Medicine focuses on individual patients, while epidemiology focuses on populations.
B) Medicine is only practiced in hospitals, while epidemiology is practiced in the field.
C) Medicine deals with non-communicable diseases, while epidemiology deals with infectious diseases only.
D) Medicine is based on biological science, while epidemiology is based on statistical science.

Answer 24

A) Medicine focuses on individual patients, while epidemiology focuses on populations.

Explanation: Medicine primarily deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disease in individual patients. Epidemiology, on the other hand, is the study of the distribution and determinants of health and diseases, morbidity, injuries, disability, and mortality in populations.

Question 25

John Snow hypothesized that cholera was spread through the air.

Options:
A) True
B) False

Answer 25

B) False

John Snow hypothesized that cholera was spread through contaminated water, not air. His studies and interventions were based on this hypothesis, which led to the removal of the handle of the Broad Street water pump, ending the outbreak.

Question 26

What does the concept of herd immunity refer to?

A) The immunity one gets after recovering from a disease
B) A community-level protection from disease when a critical mass of the population is immune
C) Immunity provided by vaccinations only
D) Immunity that is genetically inherited in a community

Answer 26

B) A community-level protection from disease when a critical mass of the population is immune

Explanation: Herd immunity occurs when a large percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, even individuals who are not immune are offered some protection because the disease has little opportunity to spread within the community.

Question 27

Correlation always implies causation.

A) True
B) False

Answer 27

B) False

Correlation between two variables means that they change together, but it does not necessarily mean that one causes the other. Causation, on the other hand, means that one event is the result of the occurrence of the other event.

Question 28

You discover that a particular mutation in a surface protein of a virus makes it more likely to adhere tightly to respiratory epithelium. You have hypothesized that this mutated virus is responsible for an increase in infections by the virus. Which criterion for causality does this discovery satisfy?

A) Temporality of association
B) Strength of association
C) Specificity of association
D) Biological plausibility

Answer 28

D) Biological plausibility

Question 29

The connection between public health and epidemiology is that epidemiology provides the _________ to inform and guide public health decision-making.

Answer 29

Scientific data

Explanation: Epidemiology provides the scientific data that is necessary for understanding the patterns and causes of diseases in populations. This data is crucial for public health professionals to make informed decisions on how to prevent and control diseases.

Question 30

Hill’s criteria are used in epidemiology to:

A) Only suggest possible correlations between variables.
B) Provide definitive proof of causation in every case.
C) Bolster the case for causation by demonstrating consistency and strength of association among others.
D) Replace the need for randomized controlled trials.

Answer 30

C) Bolster the case for causation by demonstrating consistency and strength of association among others.

Explanation: Hill’s criteria consist of several factors that can be used to evaluate the evidence for a causal relationship between a suspected cause and an effect, such as strength of association, consistency of observed associations, specificity, temporality, and biological plausibility, among others. It does not provide absolute proof but strengthens the argument for causation.

Question 31

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) are both designed to financially profit from vaccines.

A) True
B) False

Answer 31

B) False

Explanation: VAERS is a national system for monitoring the safety of vaccines after they are licensed, allowing for the collection and analysis of data regarding adverse events following vaccination. The VICP is a no-fault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions. It provides compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines, without needing to establish that the vaccine was manufactured improperly or labeled inadequately.