Rare and Deadly

A Quiz
Department of Pathology
 Who said these words ?
Question 1 “Comrades, we must concentrate
everything on this problem. Either
the lice will defeat socialism or
socialism will defeat the lice”
a. Karl Marx
b. Abraham Lincoln
c. Lenin
d. Adolf Hitler
Answer
• Lenin
• Multiple epidemics of Typhus in Russian Army
through WW I and Civil war.
• There were at least 20,000,000 cases of which
half died.
• The War to End All Wars would have ended
sooner had Russia managed to conquer the
louse.
Green louse and death are sworn brothers
 • 1994, Gujarat
Question 2
a. Scrub Typhus
b. Rabies
c. Diphtheria
d. Plague
Answer
• Plague
• Pneumonic form
• 100% fatal if untreated
• Transmitted by flea
 • What is the animal in common –
Question 3 • Ebola
• Marburg
• Nipah
Answer
• Fruit bat
• Megabats
• Pteropodidae family
• Bat-borne viruses are
transmitted via bat bite and
transfer via saliva, as well as
aerosolization of saliva, feces,
and/or urine
 • This is one of the world’s costliest
Question 4 drugs. Which disease was it
specifically licensed for?

a. PNH
b. CLL
c. Glioblastoma Multiforme
d. Aplastic Anemia
Answer
• PNH – Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
• aHUS – Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
• The average price of a drug for rare diseases exceeds $100,000 a year.
• For instance, the cystic fibrosis drug, Kalydeco (ivacaftor) is priced at
£14,000 per patient per month.
• US Orphan Drug Act

National Policy for Treatment of Rare Diseases,

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India
 Monkey Fever
Question 6
a. Marburg fever
b. Lassa fever
c. KFD
d. Ebola
Answer
• Kyasanur Forest Disease
• Karnataka – Shivamogga district
• Tick- borne viral hemorrhagic fever
 • An Orphan disease
Question 7
a. Causative gene is unknown
b. Doesn’t have a country of origin
c. Rare disease
d. Without name
Answer
• WHO - 1 or less, per 1000 population
• 6% to 8% of population
• India - 72 to 96 million
• 450 rare diseases
• Haemophilia, Thalassemia, Sickle-cell Anaemia and Primary Immuno
Deficiency in children, Lysosomal storage disorders such as Pompe
disease, Hirschsprung disease, Gaucher’s disease, Cystic Fibrosis,
Hemangiomas and certain forms of muscular dystrophies
National Policy for Treatment of Rare Diseases,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India
 • What is the
Question 8 documented case
fatality rate of Rabies?
a. 50
b. 100
c. 80
d. 20
Answer
• RNA virus
• Transmitted by mammalian bites
• Completely vaccine preventable
• Effective PEP
• Rare survivors
• Milwaukee protocol
 • What is “laughing/smiling death”?
Question 9
a. Death in a dentist’s chair
b. Death from N2O
c. Death from Kuru
d. Death from Clown Lips syndrome
Answer
• Kuru
• Uncontrollable maniacal bursts of
laughter
• Papa New Guinea
• Fore tribe
• Ritualistic cannibalism of the dead
 • “The 80 year old children” is a
Question 10 documentary about-

a. 80 children with rare diseases

b. A family from Bihar with old
children
c. Alice in Wonderland syndrome
d. Amitabh Bachchan
Answer
• A family from Bihar with old children

• Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome

• Five children in one family
• Took 10 yrs for first child to be
diagnosed

• Life expectancy – 13yrs.

• No known treatment