Biology · General Awareness

Vaccination and Immunity

997 Questions

This hub presents questions focused on vaccination and human immunity. It covers essential topics such as herd immunity, non-specific immunity, antigens, and historical vaccine developments. These concepts are crucial for general science sections in medical and civil service exams.

Herd immunity functionsNon-specific immunitySmallpox vaccinationInterferon proteinsAntigen propertiesImmunological amnesia

Vaccination and Immunity Questions

Multiple choice

BCG vaccination helps to control

  1. typhoid

  2. mumps

  3. measles

  4. tuberculosis
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine is used to prevent tuberculosis. It contains attenuated Mycobacterium bovis and provides protection against severe forms of TB in children, especially tuberculous meningitis and miliary TB. Typhoid, mumps, and measles have their own specific vaccines (typhoid: Vi polysaccharide/typhoid conjugate; mumps: MMR; measles: MMR). BCG has no protective effect against these diseases.

Multiple choice

BCG vaccine is used for the prevention of which disease in children?

  1. Poliomyelities

  2. Tuberculosis

  3. Cholera

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine is specifically used to prevent tuberculosis (TB), particularly in children. It provides protection against severe forms of TB like TB meningitis. It is not used for polio, cholera, or the other diseases listed.

Multiple choice

Chicken pox does not spread through

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

CHICKEN – POX

Chicken pox, also called Varicella is caused by the Varicella virus. It is marked by a rash of dot like spots all over the body that look like little blisters. The infection is usually accompanied by flu-like symptoms. Varicella is a very contagious disease that spreads from humans to other humans. Every year millions of kids worldwide fall ill due to chicken pox. It usually attacks the very elderly and kids less than twelve years of age. Children with Varicella should stay in bed rest and at home. The infection lasts about two weeks. One has to be very careful because the virus seeks other bodies to infect when the blisters dry and the scabs start coming off. Therefore, unless one is properly healed, he or she should not go to public places or meet friends who have not been vaccinated. Varicella vaccine is now available, and proper vaccination can prevent an infection altogether or allow just a mild attack.

 

  1. personal contact

  2. virus

  3. infection

  4. curse of nature
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage describes chicken pox as contagious and spreading from humans to humans (personal contact), caused by a virus, and being an infection. Option D 'curse of nature' is not mentioned as a means of spread in the passage - the others (A, B, C) all describe ways it does spread or what it is.

Multiple choice

If a child is vaccinated against varicella, he/she will

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

CHICKEN – POX

Chicken pox, also called Varicella is caused by the Varicella virus. It is marked by a rash of dot like spots all over the body that look like little blisters. The infection is usually accompanied by flu-like symptoms. Varicella is a very contagious disease that spreads from humans to other humans. Every year millions of kids worldwide fall ill due to chicken pox. It usually attacks the very elderly and kids less than twelve years of age. Children with Varicella should stay in bed rest and at home. The infection lasts about two weeks. One has to be very careful because the virus seeks other bodies to infect when the blisters dry and the scabs start coming off. Therefore, unless one is properly healed, he or she should not go to public places or meet friends who have not been vaccinated. Varicella vaccine is now available, and proper vaccination can prevent an infection altogether or allow just a mild attack.

 

  1. get cured from an attack of chicken pox in less than two weeks

  2. never suffer an attack of chicken- pox

  3. either not suffer an attack of chicken-pox or suffer a very mild attack

  4. not suffer an attack for five years
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The passage states: 'Varicella vaccine is now available, and proper vaccination can prevent an infection altogether or allow just a mild attack.' Option C directly paraphrases this - vaccination can either prevent infection entirely or result in a mild case.

Multiple choice

Through the passage, the author wishes to tell us about

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

CHICKEN – POX

Chicken pox, also called Varicella is caused by the Varicella virus. It is marked by a rash of dot like spots all over the body that look like little blisters. The infection is usually accompanied by flu-like symptoms. Varicella is a very contagious disease that spreads from humans to other humans. Every year millions of kids worldwide fall ill due to chicken pox. It usually attacks the very elderly and kids less than twelve years of age. Children with Varicella should stay in bed rest and at home. The infection lasts about two weeks. One has to be very careful because the virus seeks other bodies to infect when the blisters dry and the scabs start coming off. Therefore, unless one is properly healed, he or she should not go to public places or meet friends who have not been vaccinated. Varicella vaccine is now available, and proper vaccination can prevent an infection altogether or allow just a mild attack.

 

  1. contagious diseases and their prevention

  2. reasons, symptoms and precautions for chicken pox

  3. the dangers of chicken pox

  4. curative action for chicken pox
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The passage covers: cause (varicella virus), symptoms (rash, flu-like), transmission (contagious, human-to-human), affected groups (elderly, kids under 12), duration (2 weeks), precautions (isolation when healing), and prevention (vaccine). Option B comprehensively captures this scope.

Multiple choice

From the passage, it is clear that

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

CHICKEN – POX

Chicken pox, also called Varicella is caused by the Varicella virus. It is marked by a rash of dot like spots all over the body that look like little blisters. The infection is usually accompanied by flu-like symptoms. Varicella is a very contagious disease that spreads from humans to other humans. Every year millions of kids worldwide fall ill due to chicken pox. It usually attacks the very elderly and kids less than twelve years of age. Children with Varicella should stay in bed rest and at home. The infection lasts about two weeks. One has to be very careful because the virus seeks other bodies to infect when the blisters dry and the scabs start coming off. Therefore, unless one is properly healed, he or she should not go to public places or meet friends who have not been vaccinated. Varicella vaccine is now available, and proper vaccination can prevent an infection altogether or allow just a mild attack.

 

  1. John Cabot had reached America much before Columbus did

  2. John Cabot could be alive today, though lost in the seas

  3. John Cabot was definitely a better sailor than Columbus

  4. John Cabot was an expert mariner
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Multiple choice

The author uses the word “immunity” to mean

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

THE COMMON COLD

Sneezes, and coughs, watery eyes, running noses and sore throats, are common sights that mark a person infected with the common cold. The common cold is a viral infection that seems incurable. The reason is that antibiotics and ordinary medicine cannot treat a viral infection. The additional reason is that the conditions, under which we say that somebody has caught a cold, can be brought about by a range of viruses that list more than a hundred. So, catching a cold, getting cured and developing immunity towards the virus that caused it doesn’t protect you from catching a cold again on the very next day. The next common cold virus in the line may be knocking on your door. Thoroughly washing your hands and not touching your face, remaining clean, and trying to avoid infected patients may help to prevent a common cold. You can avoid a common cold by good habits, but can’t cure it yet by medicines..

 

  1. protection

  2. disease

  3. cure

  4. spreading
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The passage discusses developing immunity after catching a cold from one virus, but notes this immunity 'doesn't protect you from catching a cold again' because different cold viruses exist. Here, 'immunity' is used to mean protection/resistance against a specific virus, even if limited in scope.

Multiple choice

Vaccines which are result of recombinant DNA technology are called:

  1. First generation vaccines

  2. Second generation vaccines

  3. Third generation vaccines

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Vaccines produced using recombinant DNA technology are classified as third generation vaccines. First generation vaccines use live-attenuated or inactivated pathogens, while second generation vaccines use purified components like toxoids or subunits. Third generation vaccines represent the modern approach using genetic engineering techniques to produce specific antigens.

Multiple choice

BCG Vaccine is used to curb

  1. Pheumonia

  2. Tuberculosis

  3. Emphysema

  4. Small Pox
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccine specifically protects against tuberculosis, especially severe forms like TB meningitis in children. It is not used for pneumonia, emphysema (a chronic obstructive lung disease), or smallpox (which has a different vaccine).

Multiple choice

An antigen is a

  1. opposite of antibody

  2. residue of an antibody

  3. stimulus for antibody formation

  4. result of antibody
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

An antigen is any substance that triggers an immune response and stimulates antibody production. Antigens are not 'opposite' to antibodies (that's backwards), nor are they residues or results of antibodies. Instead, antigens are the foreign molecules or cell-surface markers that the immune system recognizes and responds to by making specific antibodies.

Multiple choice

In Burkitt's lymphoma, a vaccine against which of the following viruses might prove useful?

  1. Epstein-Barr virus

  2. Marek's disease virus

  3. Human papilloma virus

  4. HTLV-1

  5. MMTV
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In human Burkitt's lymphoma, work is in progress to develop a vaccine to exploit the ability of cytotoxic T-cells to target EBV-related antigens on the cells of all Burkitt's tumors. It may be an advantage to treat the patients at the same time with cytokines to upregulate the expression of ICAM-1, LFA-3 and possibly of the virus itself.

Multiple choice

Which of the following micro-organisms does not use antigenic variation as a major means of evading host defences?

  1. Streptococcus pneumoniae

  2. Influenza A virus

  3. Borrelia recurrentis

  4. HIV

  5. Trypanosomes
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

There are at least 93 serotypes in the world, though 23 prevalent serotypes that cause disease in different parts of the world, but no switching of the bacterium between serotypes. Infections with these organisms are common and often infect those with antibody or innate or combined deficiencies.