Disease Practice Questions

Which of these is the definition of health used by the WHO?

Put a cross ( ☒ ) in the box next to your answer.

☐ A the absence of disease or infirmity

☐ B a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

☐ C not being infected by any pathogen

☐ D eating a balanced diet and taking regular exercise

A man has broken his leg. He has no infection, but he feels anxious about returning to work and he can no longer meet his friends at his sports club.

Explain why this man is not in a state of complete health, as defined by the WHO.

Put a cross ( ☒ ) in one box in each row of the table to show whether each disease is communicable or non-communicable.

Disease	Communicable	Non-communicable
cholera	☐	☐
type 2 diabetes	☐	☐
tuberculosis	☐	☐
beriberi	☐	☐

Beriberi is caused by a lack of vitamin B1 in the diet.

Explain why beriberi is classed as a non-communicable disease.

Which of these diseases is caused by a fungus?

Put a cross ( ☒ ) in the box next to your answer.

☐ A cholera

☐ B Chalara ash dieback

☐ C HIV

☐ D malaria

Complete the table by writing the missing information in the empty boxes.

Disease	Type of pathogen	Main damage caused to the body
tuberculosis	bacterium
malaria		damage to the blood and liver
HIV	virus

Describe how the bacterium that causes TB is spread from an infected person to a healthy person.

State one way TB damages the body of an infected person.

Give two ways the spread of TB inside a prison could be reduced.

Cholera is caused by a bacterium. State what is meant by the term pathogen.

Give the main symptom shown by a person infected with cholera.

Explain how damage to the sewage system led to the outbreak of cholera.

Give two actions aid workers could take to reduce the spread of cholera in the city.

Calculate the percentage of the severely malnourished children who died from an infectious disease.

.............................................................. %

Explain why severely malnourished children are more likely to die from an infectious disease than well nourished children.

Give two symptoms shown by an ash tree infected with Chalara ash dieback.

Explain why it is difficult to prevent the spread of Chalara ash dieback between woodlands.

Suggest two measures that could reduce the spread of Chalara ash dieback in the UK.

State how the protist that causes malaria is transferred from an infected person to a healthy person.

Calculate how many times greater the number of cases per 1 000 people is in village A than in village B.

.............................................................. times

Explain why insecticide-treated bed nets reduce the number of malaria cases in a whole village, including in people who do not sleep under a net.

Describe two ways the bacterium that causes Chlamydia can be passed from one person to another.

Describe two ways the spread of Chlamydia in a population could be reduced.

Explain why this infection spreads more quickly on crowded buses and trains than in villages where few people live.

Health workers advise people to cough into a tissue and then throw the tissue away. Explain how this advice reduces the spread of this infection.

The bar chart below shows the results for weeks 1 and 2.

Complete the bar chart by drawing the bars for weeks 3 and 4.

Calculate the percentage decrease in the number of new cases from week 1 to week 4.

.............................................................. %

At the end of week 1 the camp began to treat its drinking water with chlorine. Explain how this reduced the number of new cases of the illness.

HIV is a virus. In some countries the number of people infected with HIV is still increasing.

Explain how HIV is spread from person to person, the effect that HIV has on the body of an infected person, and how the spread of HIV can be reduced.

Calculate the percentage of the people tested in the 15–19 age group who tested positive for chlamydia.

.............................................................. %

A student says that the data show people aged 20–24 are at greater risk of chlamydia infection than people aged 15–19, because more people in the 20–24 group tested positive.

Explain why the student is wrong. Use data from the table in your answer.

Explain how a screening programme reduces the spread of chlamydia, even though many infected people have no symptoms.