Biology · General Awareness

Vaccination and Immunity

965 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 general knowledge

Prophylaxis means:

  1. Keeping out microorganisms from the food

  2. Prescription of boosters for convalescing patients

  3. Preventive treatment of diseases

  4. Control of diet
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Prophylaxis refers to preventive measures taken to prevent disease, such as vaccines, antibiotics before surgery, or other preventive treatments. The word comes from Greek 'prophylaktikos' meaning 'guarding or preventing beforehand'. Keeping microorganisms out of food is food safety, boosters are part of prophylaxis but not its definition, and diet control is a therapeutic measure.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Which is the correct spelling ?

  1. Vaccination

  2. Vacination

  3. Vacciniation

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

Vaccination requires double 'c' followed by single 'i' and the standard '-tion' ending. From 'vaccine', add '-ation' while preserving the double 'c'. Option B misses a 'c', option C incorrectly adds an extra 'i', and option D makes both errors. This is a crucial medical term.

Multiple choice general knowledge

A deferral (waiting period) is necessary after which of these vaccinations/medications are administered?

  1. Blood pressure medications

  2. Hepatitis B vaccination

  3. Antibiotics

  4. Birth control pills
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Antibiotics typically require a deferral period of 7-14 days after the last dose to ensure the infection is fully resolved and the medication is cleared from the system. Other options listed - blood pressure meds, Hepatitis B vaccine, and birth control pills - do not require deferral.

Multiple choice

P, Q, R and S are four types of dangerous microbes recently found in a human habitat. The area of each circle with its diameter printed in brackets represents the growth of a single microbe surviving human immunity system within 24 hours of entering the body. The danger to human beings varies proportionately with the toxicity, potency and growth attributed to a microbe shown in the figure below.

A pharmaceutical company is contemplating the development of a vaccine against the most dangerous microbe. Which microbe should the company target in its first attempt?

  1. P

  2. Q

  3. R

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

By observation of the table, we can say S.

  P Q R S
Requirement 800 600 300 200
Potency 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.8
Multiple choice

Which of the following was the first vaccine developed against plasmodium falciparum?

  1. Attenuated plasmodium falciparum vaccine

  2. Recombinant vaccine

  3. Anti-disease vaccine

  4. Altruistic vaccine
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The first malaria vaccine to be approved was RTS,S (brand name Mosquirix), which was a recombinant vaccine engineered to express P. falciparum proteins capable of stimulating antibody production against the parasite.

Multiple choice

Infectious diseases can be prevented by

  1. immunisation

  2. using medicines

  3. using tonics

  4. using pure water
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

“Prevention” means avoiding a disease even before it is caused. This can be done by immunisation in which we make the immune system strong enough to fight against infection, if it is caused. Tonics are not disease-specific and they generally give us more energy and efficiency (but not immunity). Medicines are used to cure diseases and not to prevent them. Pure water is only a defensive measure to keep ourselves away from microbes.

Multiple choice

Which property of immune system forms the basis of the principle of vaccination?

  1. Diversity

  2. Memory

  3. Activation

  4. Fighting against the pathogen
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The principle of vaccination is based on the property of memory of the immune system as it gives an exposure for the first time so that it can act actively when the body is attacked for the second time by the same pathogen. So, it is memory.

Multiple choice

Vaccines are

  1. curative medicines

  2. monoclonal antibodies

  3. treated bacteria or viruses or one of their proteins

  4. MHC (major histocompatibility complex) proteins
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Vaccines are treated bacteria or viruses or one of their proteins.If a vaccinated individual does develop the disease vaccinated against, the disease is likely to be less virulent than in unvaccinated victims.

Multiple choice

The public health programme of childhood immunisation for preventing infectious diseases includes administration of

  1. medicines

  2. narcotics

  3. antibiotics

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

Immunisation refers to taking preventive measures against a disease even before it occurs. This is done by administrating special drugs called vaccines, which are actually weakened strains of causative agents, their dead cells/membranes or their toxins; and this process is called vaccination.  

Multiple choice

Infectious agents do not spread through

  1. vectors

  2. physical contact

  3. air

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

Infectious agents mean the agents or organisms through which diseases or infections spread. For example, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, etc These infectious agents, i.e. microbes spread and cause diseases through vectors, physical contact and also air. But vaccines are kinds of formulations, which are used to immunise the body against diseases and control their spreading. Thus, the infectious agents do not spread through vaccines.

Multiple choice

Vaccines help in the

  1. treatment of infectious diseases

  2. treatment of non-infectious diseases

  3. prevention of microbial diseases

  4. Both (1) and (2)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Vaccines are 'preventive', i.e. they help us in fighting against a disease before it is actually caused. The only option that suits this fact is (3). On the contrary, options (1) and (2) are related to treatments, i.e. cure after the host is infected. This is done by using suitable medicines and drugs. Hence, options (1), (2) and (4) are incorrect.

Multiple choice

Protective antibodies formed in the body against viral agents are known as

  1. non-specific antibodies

  2. natural killers

  3. toxoids

  4. neutralising antibodies

  5. autoantibodies
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

A Neutralizing antibody is an antibody which defends a cell from an antigen or infectious body by inhibiting or neutralizing any effect it has biologically. An example of a neutralizing antibody is HIV antitoxin, which can neutralize the biological effects of HIV.