GCSE Biology Disease & immunity questions by topic

Complete the table about the GCSE diseases.

1. (a)Type of pathogen for measles.[1]
2. (b)One symptom of malaria.[1]
3. (c)Type of pathogen for rose black spot.[1]
4. (d)State one way rose black spot spreads.[1]

Name the defence best matched to each job.

1. (a)Traps pathogens in hairs and mucus before they reach the lungs.[1]
2. (b)Kills pathogens swallowed with food.[1]
3. (c)Sweeps mucus upwards in the trachea.[1]
4. (d)A physical barrier that also makes antimicrobial secretions.[1]

A class is told how HIV is passed between people.

1. (a)State two ways HIV can be transmitted.[2]
2. (b)Name the drugs that keep HIV under control.[1]
3. (c)Give one reason late-stage untreated HIV is dangerous.[1]

A vaccination clinic aims to vaccinate 92% of a birth cohort of 5000 children.

1. (a)Calculate how many children need vaccinating.[2]
2. (b)Explain one benefit of such high coverage for the whole community.[2]

Match each spread-prevention measure to the disease it helps control.

1. (a)Insecticide-treated bed nets.[1]
2. (b)Vaccinating infants against a viral rash disease.[1]
3. (c)Condoms during sexual contact.[1]
4. (d)Washing hands before handling food.[1]

State how each disease spreads from one host to another.

1. (a)Measles.[1]
2. (b)Malaria.[1]
3. (c)Rose black spot.[1]
4. (d)HIV.[1]

Explain how a vaccination protects a person against a disease they have never had.

1. (a)Describe what a vaccine contains and what the immune system does in response.[4]
2. (b)Explain why the person does not become ill from the vaccine itself.[2]

Compare the roles of phagocytes and lymphocytes in defending the body.

1. (a)Describe the role of phagocytes.[2]
2. (b)Describe the role of lymphocytes.[2]
3. (c)State one way the two responses differ.[2]

A tropical clinic records 240 malaria cases in a month. After distributing insecticide-treated bed nets, cases fall to 150 the next month.

1. (a)Calculate the percentage fall in cases. Give your answer to 2 significant figures.[2]
2. (b)Explain how bed nets reduce the spread of malaria.[2]
3. (c)Give one other measure that would reduce cases further.[1]

A patient with a viral chest infection asks their doctor for antibiotics.

1. (a)Explain why the doctor should not prescribe antibiotics for this infection.[3]
2. (b)Explain one consequence of prescribing antibiotics when they are not needed.[2]

A GP surgery aims to vaccinate 95% of the 800 infants registered with it. So far, 740 infants are vaccinated.

1. (a)Calculate the percentage of infants vaccinated so far.[2]
2. (b)Calculate how many more infants must be vaccinated to reach the 95% target.[2]
3. (c)State why the surgery wants coverage this high.[1]

Paper discs soaked in two different antibiotics were placed on an agar plate evenly spread with bacteria. After two days the clear zones around the discs were measured.

1. (a)State which antibiotic is more effective against these bacteria, using the data.[2]
2. (b)State what the water-soaked disc shows.[1]
3. (c)Explain why a clear zone forms around an antibiotic disc.[2]
4. (d)Suggest one reason a doctor might still choose antibiotic A for a patient.[1]

A hospital microbiology lab tests *Staphylococcus aureus* isolates for methicillin resistance. In one month, 100 of 250 isolates were resistant.

1. (a)Calculate the resistance rate as a percentage.[2]
2. (b)Explain how a resistant strain such as MRSA emerges and becomes common.[3]
3. (c)State one hospital practice that reduces the spread of resistant bacteria.[1]

This question is about a new drug for a bacterial infection.

1. (a)Describe what preclinical testing involves and what it checks.[3]
2. (b)Explain why patients in the clinical trial are split into a drug group and a placebo group, with neither the patients nor the doctors knowing who gets which.[3]
3. (c)State what must happen to the results before the drug is licensed.[1]

Explain how the immune system responds when a pathogen enters the blood for the first time, and what happens on a second infection by the same pathogen.

1. (a)Write a full explanation of both encounters.[6]

A grower notices purple-black spots on the leaves of their rose bushes, and the leaves yellow and drop early.

1. (a)Name the disease and its pathogen type.[2]
2. (b)Explain why the plant’s growth suffers.[2]
3. (c)Describe two actions the grower should take.[1]

Evaluate the use of vaccination programmes against a serious infectious disease.

1. (a)Give the case for mass vaccination and the case against, using evidence-style reasoning.[6]

A hospital sees a rise in infections caused by MRSA, a strain of *Staphylococcus aureus* that the usual antibiotics no longer kill.

1. (a)Explain how antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA arise and spread through a hospital.[3]
2. (b)Evaluate two measures the hospital could use to slow the spread.[3]