PUBH 401 QUIZ #1 UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. What is epidemiology?
Answer:
The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations,
and the application of this study to the control of health problems.
Question:
2. What are the objectives of epidemiology?
Answer:
to identify the etiology of disease, to determine the extent of disease in a community, to study the natural
history and course of disease, to evaluate new and existing preventive and therapeutic measures and modes
of healthcare delivery, and to provide the foundation for developing public policy regarding disease
prevention
Question:
3. What were the three leading causes of death in 1900?
Answer:
pneumonia and influenza, TB, diarrhea and enteritis
Question:
4. What were the three leading causes of death in 2014?
Answer:
heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease
Question:
5. What is primary prevention?
Answer:
preventing the initial development of a disease in a person who is well and does not yet have the disease
Question:
6. What are some examples of primary prevention?
Answer:
immunizations, reducing exposure to certain risk factors
Question:
7. What is secondary prevention?
Answer:
identifying people who already have the disease but are not yet showing symptoms and then working to
reduce the severity and potential complications
Question:
8. What are examples of secondary prevention?
, Answer:
testing stool for colon cancer, screenings
Question:
9. What is tertiary prevention?
Answer:
preventing complications in those who have already developed signs and symptoms of the disease and
have been diagnosed
Question:
10. What are examples of tertiary prevention?
Answer:
Rehabilitation for stroke victims, anti-viral medication for shingles
Question:
11. Ignaz Semmelweis and Childbed Fever
Answer:
He observed that rates of childbed fever were higher in the First Clinic which had physicians and medical
students who also conducted autopsies than the Second Clinic which only had midwives. He implemented
a policy of handwashing in the First Clinic and after 2 years (1848) the mortality rates were the same.
Childbed Fever is caused by a streptococcal infection.
Question:
12. Water fluoridation and cavities
Answer:
After observing that communities with higher water fluoridation had lower rates of cavities, a trial was
undertaken in two cities in upper New York: Kingston and Newburgh. After ten years, it was clear the
Newburgh, with the higher level of water fluoridation, had lower rates of decayed, missing, and filled
teeth. When water fluoridation was stopped in another city, the rate of decayed, missing, and filled teeth
increased.
Question:
13. What is cholera?
Answer:
Bacterial disease transmitted by vibrio cholerae
Question:
14. What are the symptoms of cholera?
Answer:
Profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, circulatory collapse, and shock. Many infections are milder diarrhea or
asymptomatic.
Question:
15. How many people develop severe disease/death with cholera?
Answer:
About 1 in 20 infected persons develop severe disease; approximately 25-50% of cases are fatal if
untreated.
CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. What is epidemiology?
Answer:
The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations,
and the application of this study to the control of health problems.
Question:
2. What are the objectives of epidemiology?
Answer:
to identify the etiology of disease, to determine the extent of disease in a community, to study the natural
history and course of disease, to evaluate new and existing preventive and therapeutic measures and modes
of healthcare delivery, and to provide the foundation for developing public policy regarding disease
prevention
Question:
3. What were the three leading causes of death in 1900?
Answer:
pneumonia and influenza, TB, diarrhea and enteritis
Question:
4. What were the three leading causes of death in 2014?
Answer:
heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease
Question:
5. What is primary prevention?
Answer:
preventing the initial development of a disease in a person who is well and does not yet have the disease
Question:
6. What are some examples of primary prevention?
Answer:
immunizations, reducing exposure to certain risk factors
Question:
7. What is secondary prevention?
Answer:
identifying people who already have the disease but are not yet showing symptoms and then working to
reduce the severity and potential complications
Question:
8. What are examples of secondary prevention?
, Answer:
testing stool for colon cancer, screenings
Question:
9. What is tertiary prevention?
Answer:
preventing complications in those who have already developed signs and symptoms of the disease and
have been diagnosed
Question:
10. What are examples of tertiary prevention?
Answer:
Rehabilitation for stroke victims, anti-viral medication for shingles
Question:
11. Ignaz Semmelweis and Childbed Fever
Answer:
He observed that rates of childbed fever were higher in the First Clinic which had physicians and medical
students who also conducted autopsies than the Second Clinic which only had midwives. He implemented
a policy of handwashing in the First Clinic and after 2 years (1848) the mortality rates were the same.
Childbed Fever is caused by a streptococcal infection.
Question:
12. Water fluoridation and cavities
Answer:
After observing that communities with higher water fluoridation had lower rates of cavities, a trial was
undertaken in two cities in upper New York: Kingston and Newburgh. After ten years, it was clear the
Newburgh, with the higher level of water fluoridation, had lower rates of decayed, missing, and filled
teeth. When water fluoridation was stopped in another city, the rate of decayed, missing, and filled teeth
increased.
Question:
13. What is cholera?
Answer:
Bacterial disease transmitted by vibrio cholerae
Question:
14. What are the symptoms of cholera?
Answer:
Profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, circulatory collapse, and shock. Many infections are milder diarrhea or
asymptomatic.
Question:
15. How many people develop severe disease/death with cholera?
Answer:
About 1 in 20 infected persons develop severe disease; approximately 25-50% of cases are fatal if
untreated.
