Just the Vax — Vaccines

Just the Vax — Vaccines

1. Who typically gets the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine known as DTaP?

  1. Babies only
  2. Babies and young children
  3. Adolescents only
  4. Adolescents and adults

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. DTaP is given to babies and young children in a series of five shots at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years of age.

2. What vaccine, other than human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, prevents a form of cancer?

  1. Hepatitis A vaccine
  2. Influenza vaccine
  3. Hepatitis B vaccine
  4. Rotavirus vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. Hepatitis B virus can cause liver cancer; therefore, the hepatitis B vaccine prevents a known cause of cancer.

3. What vaccine for teens prevents a coughing disease that can be fatal in infants?

  1. Tdap
  2. DTap
  3. Td
  4. DT

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. Tdap is given to teens and young adults to prevent three diseases, one of which is known as pertussis, or whooping cough. Pertussis is a coughing disease that causes intense and persistent coughing spells that can be so severe that an infected person breaks a rib during the coughing spells.

4. Who do you think received the most immunologic components in vaccines?

  1. Children born in 1942
  2. Children born in 1982
  3. Children born in 2000
  4. Children born in 2010

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. Children born in 1942 received four vaccines that contained more than 3,000 immunologic components. Conversely, children today receive 14 vaccines that contain fewer than 150 immunologic components.

5. What vaccine is given to girls to protect their future unborn babies?

  1. Rubella vaccine
  2. Measles vaccine
  3. Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine
  4. Hepatitis A vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) can occur if a woman becomes infected with rubella before 20 weeks’ gestation. CRS can cause miscarriage, fetal death, premature delivery or other birth defects. Preventing CRS is the main reason the rubella vaccine is given to girls.

6. Development of which vaccine slowed after the invention of antibiotics?

  1. Influenza vaccine
  2. Meningococcal vaccine
  3. Pneumococcal vaccine
  4. Rotavirus vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. Antibiotics to treat pneumococcal infections were discovered in the 1940s and caused interest in vaccine development to decline. However, when Streptococcus pneumoniae started to become antibiotic resistant, the importance of continuing to develop a vaccine for pneumococcal disease became apparent.

7. What vaccine must be updated each year in response to changes in the virus it protects against?

  1. Hepatitis A vaccine
  2. Influenza vaccine
  3. Hepatitis B vaccine
  4. HPV vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. The influenza vaccine is updated almost every year so that it protects against the strains of influenza virus predicted to circulate during that year.

8. Written proof of receipt of which vaccine is required for entry into certain countries?

  1. Hepatitis B vaccine
  2. Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine
  3. Yellow fever vaccine
  4. Rotavirus vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. Proof of vaccination against yellow fever is required for entry into certain countries, such as Afghanistan, Angola and the Bahamas.

9. What vaccine is available as both a shot and a nasal spray, but not as an oral vaccine?

  1. Influenza vaccine
  2. Rotavirus vaccine
  3. Polio vaccine
  4. Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. The influenza vaccine is available as a shot or nasal spray.

10. While most vaccines are not given to pregnant women, which vaccines are recommended for pregnant women?

  1. Hepatitis A and HPV vaccines
  2. Rotavirus and Hepatitis B vaccines
  3. Influenza and Pertussis vaccines
  4. HPV and MMR vaccines

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. The influenza vaccine is recommended for pregnant women because they have an increased risk of suffering complications if infected with influenza during their pregnancy. Pregnant women are also recommended to receive a dose of Tdap between 27 and 36 weeks’ gestation to protect both themselves and their newborns from pertussis.

11. What was the first vaccine to prevent a known cause of cancer?

  1. Shingles vaccine
  2. Hepatitis B vaccine
  3. MMR vaccine
  4. Chickenpox vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. Hepatitis B can cause liver cancer. Therefore, when the hepatitis B vaccine was developed, it was the first vaccine to prevent a known cause of cancer. Today, two routinely administered vaccines prevent cancer – the hepatitis B vaccine and the HPV vaccine.

12. What vaccine leads to a stronger immune response than what would occur after natural infection?

  1. HPV vaccine
  2. Hepatitis B vaccine
  3. Rotavirus vaccine
  4. Chickenpox vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. The HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer in women, elicits a stronger immune response and thus provides greater protection against the virus than if a person gained immunity to the virus from infection.

Hib and tetanus vaccines also provide greater protection than acquiring immunity through natural infection.

13. What vaccine is often thought of as a travel vaccine, but is actually recommended for anyone who wants to be protected?

  1. HPV vaccine
  2. Hepatitis B vaccine
  3. Hepatitis A vaccine
  4. Chickenpox vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. The hepatitis A vaccine is recommended for people traveling to countries where there is a great risk of becoming infected with hepatitis A. However, anyone who wants to be protected from hepatitis A can receive the vaccine. Since hepatitis A can spread through contaminated food and water, such as in restaurants, getting a hepatitis A vaccine can protect non-travelers as well.

14. What vaccine used to be made using virus isolated from human blood, but with advanced technology, is now made using a viral surface protein grown in yeast cells?

  1. Measles vaccine
  2. Pertussis vaccine
  3. Hepatitis B vaccine
  4. Shingles vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. The hepatitis B vaccine was originally made using virus isolated from the blood of people infected with hepatitis B, and because of this, known as the “plasma-derived” version.  However, because human blood was used, people were concerned that the vaccine was not safe, so, as newer technologies became available, the process for making the vaccine was changed.

15. What is the only oral vaccine currently used in the U.S.?

  1. Influenza vaccine
  2. Polio vaccine
  3. Rotavirus vaccine
  4. MMR vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. Rotavirus vaccine is the only oral vaccine used in the U.S. Although oral and injectable forms of polio vaccine have been created, the oral version is not used in the U.S.

16. What vaccine was made using virus isolated from a little boy in Japan in the 1970s?

  1. Rotavirus vaccine
  2. Chickenpox vaccine
  3. Mumps vaccine
  4. Measles vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. The chickenpox vaccine was made by isolating chickenpox virus from a young boy in Japan who was sick with chickenpox. This strain of chickenpox virus is known as the “Oka strain” because the child’s last name was Oka.

17. The hepatitis A vaccine requires how many doses?

  1. Three
  2. Two
  3. One
  4. Five

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. Two doses of hepatitis A vaccine are recommended, where the second dose should be given six to 12 months after the first dose.

18. How many doses of the hepatitis B vaccine are typically recommended?

  1. Two
  2. Four
  3. Three
  4. One

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. Three doses of hepatitis B vaccine are recommended. For babies, the first dose is typically given shortly after birth.

19. What vaccine is a live, “weakened” viral vaccine?

  1. Meningococcal vaccine
  2. Tetanus vaccine
  3. Measles vaccine
  4. Hepatitis B vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. Measles vaccine is a live, “weakened” viral vaccine that is made by isolating measles virus and weakening it in the laboratory.

20. Which of the following vaccines is made using inactivated bacterial toxins (toxoids)?

  1. Diphtheria vaccine
  2. Pneumococcal vaccine
  3. Chickenpox vaccine
  4. Rotavirus vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. Diphtheria vaccine is made by isolating the toxin produced by Corynebacterium diphtheriae and inactivating it with formaldehyde to produce a toxoid, which, unlike the toxin produced by the bacteria, does not cause harm.

21. What vaccine are parents and family members recommended to get prior to a baby’s birth to protect the baby from whooping cough?

  1. Hib vaccine
  2. Tdap vaccine
  3. MMR vaccine
  4. Hep A vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. The Tdap vaccine is recommended for parents and any adult family members who plan to be around a baby. In fact, all pregnant women are recommended to receive a dose of Tdap between 27 and 36 weeks’ gestation during every pregnancy.

22. How many children will be exposed to rotavirus by age 5?

  1. All children
  2. 7 of 10 children
  3. 5 of 10 children
  4. 1 of 10 children

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. All children will be exposed to and gain immunity to rotavirus by age 5.

23. Who is considered to be immune to measles, mumps and rubella, and are therefore not required to get the MMR vaccine?

  1. Adults born before 1985
  2. Adults born before 1957
  3. Adults born between 1958 and 1965
  4. Adults born between 1970 and 1985

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. Adults born before 1957 are not required to get the MMR vaccine because these diseases were so common that virtually everyone was exposed to the viruses and generated immunity naturally.

24. How often should the tetanus booster be given?

  1. Every 5 years
  2. Every year
  3. Every 10 years
  4. Every 25 years

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. A tetanus booster shot should be given every 10 years. If, however, you suffer a puncture wound and have not had a tetanus booster in at least five years, it is strongly recommended that you receive a dose of tetanus-containing vaccine.

25. What type of vaccine is the MMR vaccine?

  1. Conjugate vaccine
  2. Live, “weakened” viral vaccine
  3. Toxoid vaccine
  4. Inactivated viral vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is B. The MMR vaccine is a live, “weakened” viral vaccine that contains three vaccines (measles vaccine, mumps vaccine and rubella vaccine) combined into one shot. All three vaccines are made by weakening the viruses so that they do not replicate enough to cause disease, but still reproduce enough to provide protective immunity.

26. Who should get the influenza vaccine?

  1. Everyone 5 years of age and older
  2. Just infants less than 1 year old
  3. Only adults who may be at increased risk of complications from influenza
  4. Everyone 6 months of age and older

Supplementary information: The correct answer is D. The influenza vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older. Because influenza viruses change frequently, people should receive a dose of influenza vaccine every year.

27. Who should get the shingles vaccine?

  1. All adults 50 years and older who have not had the vaccine
  2. All adults 40 years and older who have not had the vaccine
  3. All adults 60 years and older who have not had the vaccine
  4. All adults 30 years and older who have not had the vaccine

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. All adults 60 years of age and older should receive the shingles vaccine if they have not had a dose previously.

28. Which of these are not in a high-risk group and therefore not recommended to get pneumococcal disease?

  1. People undergoing chemotherapy
  2. Adults 65 years of age and older
  3. People who smoke
  4. Pregnant women

Supplementary information: The correct answer is D. Although pregnant women are not specifically recommended to get the pneumococcal vaccine, several other groups are, including people undergoing chemotherapy, adults age 65 years of age and older, people who smoke, and adults with heart or lung disease, liver disease, diabetes, cancer or asthma. Adults who do not have a functioning spleen, suffer from alcoholism or are HIV positive should also receive the pneumococcal vaccine.

29. Where can you get the yellow fever vaccine?

  1. At your primary care physician’s office
  2. At CVS’s minute clinic
  3. Certified yellow fever vaccine centers
  4. At Walgreen’s take-care clinic

Supplementary information: The correct answer is C. If a yellow fever vaccine is required before a trip abroad, only certified yellow fever vaccine centers can administer it. Before traveling, it is best to determine if your destination requires proof of yellow fever vaccination to enter the country.

30. Which is not a reason why adults need vaccines?

  1. To boost immunity
  2. To protect against diseases that haven’t been encountered
  3. To protect against viruses that change
  4. To boost energy levels in cells

Supplementary information: The correct answer is D. As adults age, immunity to diseases they were previously vaccinated for may decrease. Likewise, some viruses change so that previous immunity may no longer be sufficient. If adults have never encountered a disease before, such as young men and women becoming sexually active, vaccination affords protection.

31. Which vaccines do teens need?

  1. Meningococcus, HPV, Tdap and Influenza vaccines
  2. MMR and hepatitis B vaccines
  3. Chickenpox and rotavirus vaccines
  4. Hepatitis A and pneumococcal vaccines

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. Teens are recommended to receive one dose of meningococcus vaccine, three doses of HPV vaccine, one dose of Tdap vaccine and an annual dose of influenza vaccine.

32. Which of the following is not a reason why males should receive the HPV vaccine?

  1. To prevent head and neck cancer
  2. To prevent genital warts
  3. To decrease HPV transmission
  4. To prevent gonorrhea  

 Supplementary information: The correct answer is D. The HPV vaccine is important for preventing head and neck cancer and genital warts in males but does not prevent gonorrhea (a sexually transmitted disease). Further, by giving HPV vaccine to males, transmission between sexual partners will decrease.

33. Teens, especially college freshmen, are at increased risk of getting what vaccine-preventable disease?

  1. Meningococcal disease
  2. Pneumococcal disease
  3. Measles
  4. Rubella

Supplementary information: The correct answer is A. Teens and young adults have an increased risk of becoming infected with meningococcus. College freshmen who live in dorms are particularly susceptible to meningococcus. For this reason, teens and young adults, particularly college freshmen living in dorms, should receive a dose of meningococcus vaccine.