Grandma Said I Have What?!? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Consumption, now known as tuberculosis, is caused by the organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is often broken up into two groups, pulmonary and extrapulmonary , such as lymphatic, nervous system or joints. Outside of symptoms from the affected organ system, tuberculosis (TB) is often a difficult diagnosis to make, due to its chronic, slowly manifesting nature. TB most often involves episodic fevers, night sweats, loss of appetite and progressive weight loss which likely led to the term consumption years ago. Nowadays, through PPD testing and classic radiologic findings for TB, the diagnosis has become much easier to make and, with the advent of antibiotics, tuberculosis is rarely found in first world countries.

Answer: Clostridium tetani

Lockjaw was a term used to describe tetanus, one of the most common manifestations of infection by Clostridium tetani. Lockjaw itself results from a neurotoxin released by C. tetani. The toxin affects the motor neuron that enervates the masseter muscle of the jaw causing it to rapidly fire producing spasms in the muscle. Tetanus often involves other muscle groups which can prove fatal if left untreated. Luckily, tetanus can be prevented with timely vaccinations and proper wound cleaning following any injury that involves breaking of the skin.

While rare in countries with proper vaccination, tetanus resulted in over 50,000 deaths worldwide in 2015.

Answer: Influenzavirus

The grippe is an old fashioned word used to describe the flu, most often caused by influenzavirus. Influenzavirus has been known through the ages to cause millions of deaths, most notably with the 1918 pandemic often referred to as Spanish influenza. Even today, influenza wreaks a relatively large death toll each year. Due to its ease of transmission, the flu can spread rapidly and, depending on the strain, can cause serious morbidity and mortality. Usually manifesting as a runny nose and cough, the flu can debilitate the affected person by exacerbating any existing chronic condition, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma, or lead to secondary complications such as bacterial pneumonia. Prevention, such as frequent hand washing and receiving an annual flu vaccine, is the best way to avoid influenza.

Answer: Rhabdovirus

Hydrophobia (translated from the Greek from "fear of water") was used to describe rabies in olden days. Rabies is typically transmitted to humans by animal bites. Worldwide, the most common cause of rabies is dog bites while in the USA the most common transmission comes from bats.

The hallmark feature of rabies is hydrophobia. Patients initially feel a discomfort of the throat and soon develop a sudden terror of water due to involuntary pharyngeal muscle spasms during their attempts to drink. As the disease progresses even the sight of water can make some patients develop these involuntary spasms. Once the patient has developed clinical signs, the disease is always fatal in 2018.

The only hope for exposed patients is receiving a series of rabies vaccinations or immunoglobulin injections before the virus takes hold.

Answer: Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The clap is a term used to describe symptoms related to infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, now more commonly called gonorrhea. While sometimes co-transmitted with chlamydia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a sexually transmitted disease that has been known to cause epididymitis in males and pelvic inflammatory disease in females.

In 2008, the World Health Organization estimated there were over 100 million cases of gonorrhea worldwide and in the USA it was the second most prevalent sexually transmitted infection. By 2018, infection with gonorrhea had become a growing public health worry as the organism has developed significant resistance to multiple classes of drugs with decreasing susceptibility to the antibiotic of choice (ceftriaxone).

Answer: Varicella zoster

Shingles, now more accurately called herpes zoster, is a reactivation of chicken pox caused by the varicella zoster virus. Shingles typically presents as a painful, blistery rash over a specified area of the body called a dermatome (an area enervated by a single spinal nerve). Varicella zoster is highly infectious and lesions that have not crusted over can transmit the organism via air over several feet. Luckily, several shingles vaccines exist to help prevent shingles and antiviral medication can be administered to help reduce the intensity and duration of the disease.

Answer: Yersinia pestis

The plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, an organism believed to have caused millions of human deaths over the course of thousands of years. While rarely seen at the turn of the 21st century in first world countries, the plague was still found in sizable numbers in parts of Africa, Peru and India.

The most common transmission to humans comes from infected animals and insects. Clinically characterized by acute fever and chills, the plague spreads to lymph node bearing areas, causing swellings called buboes, giving us the term bubonic plague. No surprise, the plague has a high rate of mortality if left untreated, of over 50%.

In 2018, even with antibiotics, the mortality rate is only reduced to 10-20%.

Answer: Candida albicans

Thrush in humans (as opposed to horses where it is a bacterial disease) is caused by a fungal infection of mucocutaneous membranes (typically either oropharyngeal or vaginal), usually with Candida albicans. The hallmark of oral thrush is a painful white film on the tongue and pharynx.

While oral thrush is most often found in immunocompromised patients, vaginal thrush (or candidiasis) commonly occurs in immunocompetent patients. One of the most prevalent causes of vulvovaginal itching, vaginal candidiasis classically produces a white, clumpy discharge (often compared to cottage cheese) with little or no odor. Thrush is not consider life-threatening.

It can be treated with a host of antifungal remedies.

Answer: Treponema pallidum

Treponema pallidum is the organism that causes the disease we call syphilis but over the centuries has been called by a number of different names including the French pox. Brought over to Europe from America, the first epidemic was reported in French soldiers who had invaded Naples and returned to France with the "great pox" or later dubbed the "French pox". Most cases of syphilis are sexually transmitted.

The disease can be clinically hard to diagnose due to the fact that often, in its initial stages, patients are relatively asymptomatic and years later, as the disease affects various organ systems, it can be harder to connect the dots to that earlier event. Fortunately, laboratory tests are available to verify the suspicions of the astute clinician. Syphilis can be treated with antibiotics with prognosis for full recovery reduced with late stage syphilis and coinfection with other viruses such as HIV.

Answer: Epstein-Barr virus

Glandular fever, most often referred to these days as infectious mononucleosis or mono, is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Characterized by fever, enlarged lymph nodes and tonsillar pharygitis, glandular fever was first described in the late 19th century. During the twentieth century, when the blood of infected patients were noted to have an increase in mononuclear cells, the term infectious mononucleosis was adopted. EBV is a widely prevalent virus in the herpes family that is spread by intimate contact from affected individuals. Most acute symptoms resolve in one to two weeks but for some people fatigue can last for months.

At the time of writing this quiz, no vaccine is available and no antiviral medicine has been found to cure the disease.