56ercises and discussion

57.+*

Section 7 - Health and Disease - Exercises and discussion

1 The drawings represent a bacterium, a protozoan and a plant cell (not to scale). Say which is which and give reasons for your decision. (A)

2 Rewrite the following list in order of size starting with the smallest. red blood cell, virus, protein molecule, bacterium 3 hich of the following is produced by the body in response to bacterial infection! (a) antibiotics (c) antigens (b) antibodies (d) antiseptics.

(R)

(R)

4 "alaria is transmitted by (a) droplet infection (c) contaminated water (b) mos#uitoes (d) houseflies 5 $henyl%etonuria is caused by (a) a gene deficiency (c) a blood disorder (b) a dietary deficiency (d) an allergy

(R)

(R)

6 A microbiologist describes a new type of bacterium as follows& 't appears oval, about ( )m long and *.( )m at its widest point. 't has a cell membrane about +.+* )m thic%, surrounding its cytoplasm. ,utside the cell membrane there is a cell wall +.+- )m thic%, surrounded by a layer of slime about +.* )m thic%. $ro.ecting from the surface of the bacterium are several hundred fimbriae (fine cytoplasmic threads) about l )m long, uniformly distributed and having their origin in the cytoplasm. Special stains show a region of /0A about +.1 )m across, near the centre of the bacterial cytoplasm but with no membrane round it. 2se a whole A3 sheet of paper to ma%e a labelled drawing of this bacterium, roughly to scale (where possible). hat is the magnification of your drawing! (* mm 4 +.++* )m)

(A)

7 /raw up a dichotomous %ey to help identify the different species of bacteria shown in the drawing. (A)

56ercises and discussion

57.+?

Section 7 - Health and Disease - Exercises and discussion (continued) 8 /iagram A represents a virus. The regions a represent molecules in its outer membrane which act as antigens. /iagram 8 represents part of a human cell. Regions c-f represent molecules which act as receptors for virus antigens.
B 1 f d e 2 3 5 4 a A

a
a

a a a

a a

8efore the virus can infect the cell, its antigen must combine with one of the receptors. (a) ith which of the receptors is the virus most li%ely to combine! (b) /iagrams *93 represent the molecular structure of some anti9viral antibodies. hich of these is most li%ely to combat an infection by virus A! (c) 'n what way might substance ( help to prevent infection by the virus! (d) :ive reasons for your answers to (a), (b) and (c). (A) 9 The graph shows the survival of bacteria and their spores when e6posed to boiling water for increasing periods of time. (a) hat percentage of bacteria survive after ( minutes boiling! (b) hat percentage of bacterial spores survive after -+ minutes boiling! (c) ;rom this evidence, why is boiling not the best method of sterilisation! (d) 0ame or describe a better method. (') < $assmore and Robson 1 The graph shows the number of notified cases of measles (per *+,+++ people) in 5ngland and ales between *=(+ and *=>?. (a) hat was the ma6imum number of cases (i) before vaccination started nationally, (ii) after the national vaccination programme! (b) Suggest two possible reasons why the incidence of the disease continued to fall after the introduction of the programme. (c) hy, do you thin%, there are fluctuations in the incidence of the disease 56ercises and discussion (i) before the national programme, (ii) after the national programme! (')

% survivors

bacterial spores bacteria

time mi!utes

vacci!atio! started !atio!all"

cases per "ear

57.+?
< 05 S@'50T'ST

Section 7 - Health and Disease - Exercises and discussion (continued)

11 To try and find an effective and economical strength for a commercial disinfectant, a dilution is made and tested against some bacterial colonies. * cm- of disinfectant is diluted with = cm- of water in tube *A so giving a *+B solution. * cmof this solution is diluted with = cm- water in tube ?. The process is repeated for tubes -9(. ( cm- solution from each tube was placed on separate agar plates containing e#ually dense colonies of bacteria. The figure below shows the method and the result.
1cm3 # cm3 $ater 1 cm3 disi!fecta!t # cm3 $ater five ide!tical a%ar plates $it& bacterial colo!ies 1 cm3 from tube 4

result after 24 &ours

(a)

hich tube contained the most economical concentration that was effective against the bacteria! (b) hat is the concentration of disinfectant in this tube! (c) 'f this is the most economical concentration, why donCt the manufacturers sell the disinfectant in this form! (') 12 /isasters such as floods and earth#ua%es are often followed by epidemics of intestinal diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery. hy do you thin% this happens! 13 The graph shows the level of antibody in the blood after receiving the first and second (booster) in.ection of a vaccine. (a) hat is the ma6imum antibody level (i) after the first in.ection, (ii) after the booster in.ection! (b) hat are the effects of the booster in.ection! (c) Dow long does it ta%e for the antibody level to reach its ma6imum after the booster in.ection! (d) hy, do you thin%, does the level of antibody fall slightly immediately after the booster in.ection! (') 56ercises and discussion
a!tibod" level arbitrar" u!its

(A)

booster i!(ectio!

< $assmore and 57.+3 Robson result of si!%le a!tibod" i!(ectio!

Section 7 - Health and Disease - Exercises and discussion (continued)

$ee's

14 ,ne method of testing whether a person has antibodies to the D'E virus in his or her blood is carried out as follows& *+) virus a!ti%e!s A D'E virus particles are bro%en up and made to stic% to the bottom of a plastic dish. A )irus particles bro'e! up a!d stuc' to plastic The particles will carry the virus antigens. 8 A sample of plasma, possibly containing D'E antibodies from the patient, is added to the dish. The plasma is then washed away. B *+) a!tibodies i! plasma samples @ Antibodies to the human D'E antibodies e!."me e!."me are added. These antibodies have been combined with an enzyme which converts a colourless C A!tibodies to *+) a!tibodies substance CSC into a colour. The plastic dish is washed again. / The colourless substance CSC is added to the dish. (') D colourless substa!ce , - e!."me colour
colour

(a) 2se the symbols above to show the result (i) with blood which contains no D'E antibodies, (ii) with blood containing D'E antibodies. (b) hat would you e6pect to see in each case! 15 An insurance office has a staff of -++. ,ne Tuesday, 3( people are absent with sic%ness and diarrhoea which, investigations show, was caused by Salmonella typhimurium. The investigation found that ?-+ people on the staff, including 3+ of the affected people, had ta%en lunch in the office canteen on "onday. The choices had been meat and potato pie (*++ servings), chic%en curry with rice (>+ servings) or pizza and chips ((+ servings). -> of the affected people had chosen the chic%en. 3+ of the affected people had been amongst 1+ who had attended an office party on the "onday night. (a) hat evidence supports the possibility that the salmonella outbrea% was caused by the chic%en curry! (b) hat is the evidence against this possibility! (c) hat further investigations would be necessary to find out the cause of the outbrea%! (AF') 16 ,ne way of testing the effectiveness of an antibiotic against a species of bacterium is to soa% filter paper discs in the drug, place them on a plate of nutrient agar .elly which has been seeded with a culture of the bacteria and incubate the plate at -7G@. The drawing shows the results of such a test. (a) hich antibiotics seem ineffective against the bacteria! (b) hich antibiotic seems most effective against the bacteria! (c) hy might the results not reflect the effectiveness of the drug in the body! (d) Dow would you design an e6periment to find whether increasing concentrations of penicillin 56ercises and discussion might be effective against the bacteria! ('F5)

C - c&loamp&e!icol /E - tetrac"cli!e G - sulp&ura.ole

E - er"t&rom"ci! , - streptom"ci! 57.+( 0 - pe!icilli!

< Hohn Dumphries

Section 7 - Health and Disease - Exercises and discussion (continued)

17 The e6periment in #uestion *1 compares the effectiveness of different antibiotics against the same species of bacterium. The e6periment in the diagram on the right tests the effectiveness of one, antibiotic against different species of bacteria. The lines A95 represent strea%s made on the agar with five different bacterial species. (a) /raw what you would e6pect to see, after ?3 hours incubation, if the antibiotic is effective against species @ and 5 but not against the others. (b) Dow might the choice of nutrient in the agar affect the result! (AF5)

trou%& cut i! a%ar a!d filled $it& a!tibiotic solutio!

18 A student who has had a bad cough decides to see if his symptoms are caused by a pathogenic bacterium. De obtains a sterile petri dish with sterile agar containing a suitable nutrient. De removes the lid, coughs over the agar, replaces the lid and incubates the dish for ?3 hours at -7G@. After this time, he removes the lid, counts the colonies of bacteria and washes the contents of the dish down the sin%. (a) 56plain why the studentCs procedure is dangerous for him and his classmates. (b) This e6periment should not be carried out in school but, if carried out in a pathology laboratory, could be made much safer. Suggest at least two safety measures that could be ta%en. (c) Apart from the safety aspects, in what ways is the e6periment badly designed! (5)