Don't Touch This Trivia Quiz

Answer: Impetigo

Impetigo is a bacterial infection that involves the superficial skin layers, but occasionally itchy skin blisters can present in the groin or armpits.The most commonly seen clinical picture is yellowish crusts on the face (especially around the mouth), arms, or legs.

The causative agents are usually Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes. As the disease is mild and only affects the skin, treatment is with topical antibiotic creams, while occasionally oral antibiotics are prescribed.

Answer: Norovirus

Norovirus is a group of related and highly transmissible viruses that cause short term (typically 1-3 days) of debilitating vomiting and diarrhoea. Patients usually recover quickly but a norovirus can cause major health concerns in infants and the elderly, especially when dehydration is severe.

The virus is spread by contaminated food/drink, touching contaminated surfaces then touching your face and sharing food/drink with an infected person. Often, but strictly incorrectly called 'stomach flu', norovirus comes from the location of the first outbreak in 1968, Norfolk in Ohio, USA.

Answer: Fifth disease

Fifth disease, or more correctly, erythema infectosium, is an airborne viral illness that children usually recover from quickly. It is caused by ParvovirusB19 and is transmitted through saliva and respiratory secretions. After the initial cold-like symptoms, a bright red facial rash appears.

The rash then spreads across the body and may look like lace. The illness is highly infectious and is spread before the onset of any symptoms. There is no prevention and treatment is symptomatic - mild pain relief for any pain or fever, and creams for the itch. Recovery usually takes a week or two.

Answer: Ebola

Initially called "Zaire ebolavirus" and now known simply as "Ebola", the disease was first seen in 1976 in Sudan and Zaire and was named after the Ebola River. The illness is spread through infected body fluids which includes sweat and breast milk, not just blood or mucous.

It is highly infectious and has a mortality rate of around 50% although this can be as high as 90%. Ebola begins with generic symptoms of headache, sore throat and fever. As the illness progresses, joint pain, vomiting and diarrhoea occur, followed by a dark, lumpy rash (Maculo-papular).

After about a week, bleeding begins and blood clotting is deranged, so the bleeding continues.

Answer: Cholera

Cholera is a highly virulent illness caused by some strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. The transmission route to humans is via drinking contaminated water, which in turn is polluted with fecal material due to ineffective water treatment. Although often thought of as a disease of developing countries, cholera is a major concern anywhere when areas are flooded and waste water treatment plants are inundated and/or inoperative for extended periods.

While the severe, watery diarrhoea that marks this disease can rapidly kill people (due to massive dehydration), most get milder symptoms and many others are asymptomatic carriers, although their faeces are contaminated with the bacterium for up to ten days. Treatment with 'Oral Re-hydration Solution' is extremely effective if performed in time.

The first occurrences of this disease have been traced back to the Ganges Delta in India in the mid nineteenth century.

Answer: Tetanus

Tetanus is also commonly known as 'lockjaw' due to the muscle-spasming effect produced by the toxin released by the Clostridium tetani bacteria. It is an anaerobic organism and so is found in deep penetrating, puncture-type wounds. The first muscles affected are those controlling the jaw and neck region. Spores of the bacteria are extremely common, residing in soil and sometimes faecal material from animals.

The most common entry point for the spores into the body is from wounds that have come into contact with such materials, e.g. cuts to hands while gardening. If not treated, 10-20% of cases can be fatal, primarily through interference with the breathing mechanism. Tetanus infections are treated with human tetanus immunoglobulin (TIG) and a vaccine is available for susceptible people, most notably infants.

Answer: Influenza A Virus

Influenza, often shortened to "'Flu" is a group of viral illnesses of which there are three types: A, B and C. Influenza A is the most serious illness and also the most likely to cause widespread outbreaks. Influenza A is pathogenic to humans and can cause death in the young, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.

As it is a virus, antibiotics are ineffective and prevention is preferred by vaccination. As the virus has two surface proteins "H" and "N" which mutate every year, annual vaccines are necessary to overcome the mutations.

Answer: Otitis media

Otitis media is an infection in the middle ear. It occurs when an infectious pathogen, usually a common cold or other viral respiratory tract infection, travels to the ear via the Eustachan tube. It is more commonly seen in children and Indiginous Australians due to anatomy.

In this population the tube is almost horizontal, allowing easy spread, whereas in adults, the tube becomes more perpendicular. The middle ear contains the three ossicles and as the area fills with pus, it puts pressure on the tympanic membrane and the bones no longer move freely, thus causing a temporary hearing loss in the affected ear.

Answer: Necrotising fasciitis

In this disease, a bacterial pathogen enters a break in the skin such as a cut and rapidly multiplies in the surfaces layers of a limb or the perineum, necrotising (killing) the skin and dermis. The pathogen is normally Streptococcus pyogenes or Staphylococcus aureus. The disease is potentially fatal and involves directed heavy duty intra-venous antimicrobial therapy.

Answer: Infection

An infection is any invasion of a host body by a pathogen and the body's response to the toxins it produces. Infectious pathogens may be bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic (malaria and worms) or arthopodal (such as ticks and mites). Localised wound infections are usually bacterial in nature and cause a localised response.

More systemic infections usually begin with cold-like symptoms, not from the pathogen but from the body's normal response to an infection. Later symptoms become more specific to the causative agent. Often the body's normal defence mechanisms are enough to fight the infections but sometimes other treatments are required and must be tailored to the pathogen. Antibiotics will not work on viral or fungal infections, for instance. Further treatment is generally supportive and symptomatic - supportive in assisting normal body functions like breathing, and symptomatic where relief for symptoms is administered.