HorthooZ – Kerala GK, PSC Questions & Onam Quiz

Q1 Multiple Choice Question

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the causative retrovirus of AIDS, progressively cripples the host immune system by selectively attacking and destroying which immune cells?

A B-lymphocytes directly B Helper T-lymphocytes (CD4+ T-cells) C Basophils and Eosinophils D Cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells alone

Q2 Multiple Choice Question

Which acute childhood respiratory bacterial infection forms a tough, leathery, grey-white false membrane (pseudomembrane) over the tonsils and throat that obstructs breathing, historically screened by the Schick Test?

A Tuberculosis B Diphtheria (caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae) C Pertussis (Whooping cough) D Scarlet fever

Q3 Multiple Choice Question

In the global crisis of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the discovery of the plasmid-mediated 'mcr-1' gene caused international alarm because it confers transferable bacterial resistance to which last-resort antibiotic?

A tetM gene conferring resistance to ampicillin B blaNDM-1 gene conferring resistance to penicillin only C mcr-1 gene conferring resistance to Colistin (Polymyxin E) D vanA gene conferring resistance to streptomycin

Q4 Multiple Choice Question

Severe Bacillary Dysentery (Shigellosis), characterized by fever, painful tenesmus, and bloody mucoid diarrhea, is caused by Gram-negative rods of the genus Shigella, primarily through which potent cytotoxic exotoxin?

A Botulinum toxin B Shiga Toxin C Diphtheria toxin D Tetanospasmin

Q5 Multiple Choice Question

The acronym 'ESKAPE', representing the six leading opportunistic nosocomial bacterial pathogens that aggressively evade and develop multidrug resistance to antibiotics, stands for:

A Epidermophyton, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Ancylostoma, Pseudomonas, and Entamoeba B Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species C Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella, Actinomyces, Proteus, and Enterobacter D Enterococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Koch's bacillus, Acinetobacter, Pasteurella, and E. coli

Q6 Multiple Choice Question

Gas Gangrene (Clostridial Myonecrosis), a rapidly spreading necrotic soft-tissue infection marked by severe subcutaneous tissue gas bubbles (crepitus) and foul odor, is primarily caused by:

A Streptococcus viridans B Pseudomonas putida C Clostridium perfringens (producing alpha-toxin lecithinase) D Staphylococcus epidermidis

Q7 Multiple Choice Question

In humans, deadly Neurocysticercosis (the leading cause of acquired adult-onset epileptic seizures in developing countries) occurs NOT from eating pork larvae, but specifically from:

A Direct transdermal penetration of filariform larvae from damp soil B Ingesting undercooked adult beef tapeworm segments in rare steak C Fecal-oral ingestion of microscopic embryonated eggs of Taenia solium shed in human stool (acting as the intermediate host) D Inhalation of cysticercoid dust particles in rural abattoirs

Q8 Multiple Choice Question

Whooping Cough (Pertussis), characterized by paroxysms of severe coughing fits followed by a high-pitched inspiratory 'whoop', is caused by which respiratory bacterium contained in the DPT vaccine?

A Streptococcus pneumoniae B Haemophilus influenzae C Corynebacterium diphtheriae D Bordetella pertussis

Q9 Multiple Choice Question

West Nile Virus (WNV), which has caused encephalitis and neuroinvasive fever fatalities in Kerala, is maintained naturally in a bird-mosquito transmission cycle primarily by which genus of mosquito?

A Mansonia mosquitoes B Culex mosquitoes C Aedes mosquitoes D Anopheles mosquitoes

Q10 Multiple Choice Question

Yellow Fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in tropical South America and Africa characterized by jaundice and black vomit (vomito negro), is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and prevented by which live-attenuated vaccine?

A BCG vaccine B MMR vaccine C 17D Vaccine (developed by Max Theiler) D Salk vaccine

Q11 Multiple Choice Question

Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease), a painful parasitic infection historically transmitted in India via step-wells and drinking water containing tiny Cyclops copepods, is caused by which long subcutaneous nematode?

A Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm) B Wuchereria bancrofti C Loa loa D Onchocerca volvulus

Q12 Multiple Choice Question

Which sexually transmitted bacterial disease, caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum, initially produces a painless indurated ulcerated lesion known as a 'Hard Chancre' at the site of inoculation?

A Syphilis B Chlamydia C Gonorrhea D Chancroid

Q13 Multiple Choice Question

In the public health immunization system, the 'Cold Chain' is a mandatory temperature-controlled supply chain that must store most routine vaccines (such as DPT, TT, and Hepatitis B) within which ideal temperature range?

A -20°C to -50°C B +15°C to +25°C C 0°C to -5°C D +2°C to +8°C

Q14 Multiple Choice Question

Mumps (Epidemic Parotitis) is an acute viral infection that classically produces painful enlargement and inflammation of which salivary glands?

A Parotid salivary glands B Sublingual salivary glands only C Lacrimal glands D Submandibular salivary glands only

Q15 Multiple Choice Question

Fatal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Kuru, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy / Mad Cow Disease) are uniquely caused by Prions, which are devoid of any nucleic acid and propagate by:

A Replicating via a novel subviral catalytic circular single-stranded RNA B Directly transforming into retroviral DNA integrase complexes C Overexpressing mitochondrial DNA polymerase gamma D Inducing normal alpha-helical cellular prion proteins (PrPC) to refold aberrantly into insoluble, protease-resistant beta-sheet scrapie isoforms (PrPSc)

Q16 Multiple Choice Question

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a notorious hospital-acquired 'Superbug' resistant to all standard beta-lactam antibiotics, acquires this resistance by expressing which altered penicillin-binding protein?

A Beta-galactosidase enzyme B Aminoglycoside transferase C PBP2a (encoded by the mecA gene) D DNA Gyrase subunit A

Q17 Multiple Choice Question

Bacterial Superantigens (such as Staphylococcal Enterotoxins and Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 / TSST-1) provoke catastrophic life-threatening cytokine storms by which molecular mechanism?

A Simultaneously crosslinking invariant regions of MHC Class II molecules and the V-beta chain of T-cell receptors (TCR) without conventional intracellular antigen processing, activating up to 20% of all T-cells B Hydrolyzing membrane sphingomyelin into pro-apoptotic ceramides C Directly polymerizing host IgM antibodies into insoluble capillary precipitates D Irreversibly inhibiting the intracellular complement factor H cascade

Q18 Multiple Choice Question

Japanese Encephalitis (Brain Fever), an acute viral brain infection prevalent in agricultural paddy regions, is transmitted to humans by Culex mosquitoes using which domestic animal as an amplifying host?

A Horses and Donkeys B Pigs (and wading birds like Herons) C Cattle and Goats D Dogs and Cats

Q19 Multiple Choice Question

Consuming undercooked, measly pork containing bladder worms (cysticercus cellulosae) transmits which segmented flatworm parasite to humans?

A Taenia solium (Pork Tapeworm) B Fasciola hepatica (Liver fluke) C Taenia saginata (Beef Tapeworm) D Echinococcus granulosus (Dog tapeworm)

Q20 Multiple Choice Question

Amoebic dysentery, characterized by severe abdominal cramps and stool with blood and excess mucus, is caused by which pathogenic intestinal protozoan parasite whose infective stage is a mature quadrinucleate cyst?

A Trichomonas vaginalis B Entamoeba histolytica C Trypanosoma gambiense D Giardia lamblia

Infectious & Communicable Diseases