The National Academies

The National Academies: What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease

What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease

What do you know about infectious disease?

For each child who dies from pneumonia in an industrialized country, about how many children die from the infection in developing countries?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Life-saving vaccines and medications aren’t distributed equitably around the world; for each child who dies from pneumonia in an industrialized country, more than 2,000 children die from the infection in developing countries.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Life-saving vaccines and medications aren’t distributed equitably around the world; for each child who dies from pneumonia in an industrialized country, more than 2,000 children die from the infection in developing countries.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Life-saving vaccines and medications aren’t distributed equitably around the world; for each child who dies from pneumonia in an industrialized country, more than 2,000 children die from the infection in developing countries.

  • Correct!

    Life-saving vaccines and medications aren’t distributed equitably around the world; for each child who dies from pneumonia in an industrialized country, more than 2,000 children die from the infection in developing countries.

Which of the following can be treated with antibiotics?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics. The common cold and influenza are both viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics. Antivirals may be prescribed instead.

  • Correct!

    Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics. The common cold and influenza are both viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics. Antivirals may be prescribed instead.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics. The common cold and influenza are both viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics. Antivirals may be prescribed instead.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics. The common cold and influenza are both viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics. Antivirals may be prescribed instead.

What fraction of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    About one quarter of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease. More than two-thirds of the deaths in children under the age of five are caused by infectious disease.

  • Correct!

    About one quarter of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease. More than two-thirds of the deaths in children under the age of five are caused by infectious disease.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    About one quarter of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease. More than two-thirds of the deaths in children under the age of five are caused by infectious disease.

Which of the following diseases kills more children worldwide than any other infectious disease?

  • Correct!

    Lower respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) kill more children worldwide than any other infectious disease. Together these diseases are the five leading causes of infectious disease worldwide, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all deaths.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Lower respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) kill more children worldwide than any other infectious disease. Together these diseases are the five leading causes of infectious disease worldwide, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all deaths.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Lower respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) kill more children worldwide than any other infectious disease. Together these diseases are the five leading causes of infectious disease worldwide, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all deaths.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Lower respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) kill more children worldwide than any other infectious disease. Together these diseases are the five leading causes of infectious disease worldwide, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all deaths.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Lower respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) kill more children worldwide than any other infectious disease. Together these diseases are the five leading causes of infectious disease worldwide, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all deaths.

True or False: Antibiotics work by introducing an agent that resembles a disease-causing microbe, thus stimulating the body's immune system to recognize it as foreign, destroy it, and "remember" it, so that it can more easily identify and destroy any similar, disease-causing microbes that it later encounters.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    The above describes how vaccines work. Antibiotics work by either killing bacteria or stopping them from reproducing, allowing the body's natural defenses to eliminate the pathogens.

  • Correct!

    The above describes how vaccines work. Antibiotics work by either killing bacteria or stopping them from reproducing, allowing the body's natural defenses to eliminate the pathogens.

True or False: Major pharmaceutical companies have great interest in dedicating resources to the antibiotics market because these short-course drugs are more profitable than drugs that treat chronic conditions and lifestyle ailments, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Drugs that treat chronic conditions and lifestyle ailments are more profitable. Modern medicine needs new kinds of antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections, but antibiotic research and development are expensive, risky, and time-consuming.

  • Correct!

    Drugs that treat chronic conditions and lifestyle ailments are more profitable. Modern medicine needs new kinds of antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections, but antibiotic research and development are expensive, risky, and time-consuming.

True or False: Most infectious diseases are not impacted by changes in the environment.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Most infectious diseases are impacted by changes in the environment. Malaria, dengue, and viral encephalitis infections, for example, are highly sensitive to environmental changes.

  • Correct!

    Most infectious diseases are impacted by changes in the environment. Malaria, dengue, and viral encephalitis infections, for example, are highly sensitive to environmental changes.

If you have strep throat, which of the following forms of medication can be used to effectively treat the infection?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Because strep throat is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus pyogenes, it is treatable with antibiotics but not antivirals. Currently there is no vaccine available to prevent strep throat.

  • Correct!

    Because strep throat is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus pyogenes, it is treatable with antibiotics but not antivirals. Currently there is no vaccine available to prevent strep throat.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Because strep throat is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus pyogenes, it is treatable with antibiotics but not antivirals. Currently there is no vaccine available to prevent strep throat.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    Because strep throat is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus pyogenes, it is treatable with antibiotics but not antivirals. Currently there is no vaccine available to prevent strep throat.

About how much of its fish and seafood does the United States import?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    The United States imports more than 80 percent of its fish and seafood. About 20 percent of its fresh vegetables and 50 percent of its fresh fruits are imported. As wealthy nations demand such foods year-round, the increasing reliance on producers abroad means that food may be contaminated during harvesting, storage, processing, and transport—long before it reaches overseas markets.    

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    The United States imports more than 80 percent of its fish and seafood. About 20 percent of its fresh vegetables and 50 percent of its fresh fruits are imported. As wealthy nations demand such foods year-round, the increasing reliance on producers abroad means that food may be contaminated during harvesting, storage, processing, and transport—long before it reaches overseas markets.    

  • Correct!

    The United States imports more than 80 percent of its fish and seafood. About 20 percent of its fresh vegetables and 50 percent of its fresh fruits are imported. As wealthy nations demand such foods year-round, the increasing reliance on producers abroad means that food may be contaminated during harvesting, storage, processing, and transport—long before it reaches overseas markets.    

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Disease Watchlist

Infectious Disease Defined

Zoonoses

Any disease that can be transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans.

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