Q 01/05

Which species of bacterium is the usual cause of TB?

A) Streptococcus pneumoniae

B) Bordetella pertussis

C) Yersinia pestis

D) Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Answer · why

D) Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Its waxy, lipid-rich cell wall means it barely takes up a Gram stain at all.

Q 02/05

By what name was tuberculosis most commonly known in nineteenth-century English?

A) The ague

B) Apoplexy

C) Dropsy

D) Consumption

Answer · why

D) Consumption

The word comes from Latin roots meaning to take up completely from under.

Q 03/05

How does tuberculosis usually spread?

A) Through the air when an infected person coughs

B) Through contaminated drinking water

C) By the bite of an infected mosquito

D) By touching shared surfaces and door handles

Answer · why

A) Through the air when an infected person coughs

The droplets can stay airborne and infective for hours in a poorly ventilated room.

Q 04/05

Which organ does active tuberculosis most commonly involve, in about 90% of cases?

A) The liver

B) The kidneys

C) The lungs

D) The spine

Answer · why

C) The lungs

In 15 to 20% of active cases it spreads elsewhere, causing forms such as Pott disease of the spine.

Q 05/05

Who identified the bacillus that causes tuberculosis in 1882?

A) Louis Pasteur

B) Robert Koch

C) Joseph Lister

D) Paul Ehrlich

Answer · why

B) Robert Koch

He won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery, and the date is now World TB Day.