In GCSE Science, the requirements for keeping healthy is one of the topics looked at. This is the last of six quizzes on that subject and it looks in particular at strains of bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics - otherwise known as 'superbugs'.
Antibiotics have been in use since a team, led by scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, worked out how to produce penicillin in useful quantities. Since then penicillin and other antibiotics, like amoxycillin and flucloxacillin, have saved countless millions of lives.
Unfortunately, owing to the over-use and unnecessary use of these amazing chemicals, bacteria have started to appear that are resistant to antibiotics. One of the best known is MRSA. This strain of bacteria is also resistant to other antibiotics and so is a problem in hospitals. The British press decided to call bacteria resistant to antibiotics 'superbugs' and this nickname stuck.
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MRSA isn't the only bacteria resistant to antibiotics - many more superbugs are appearing and the antibiotics that used to kill them no longer work. This is worrying because if all bacteria become resistant, we will be back to the days before penicillin was discovered. But scientists are not just sitting back and letting this happen. They are producing new antibiotics that are able to kill the resistant strains.
How do resistant bacteria arise in the first place? In any population of organisms, there is variation. This variation could produce a few bacteria that are resistant. This could be caused by a mutation or by a gene contained in the bacteria that has been there for a long time. These survive the antibiotic and can go on to reproduce so that eventually, only the resistant strain exist. If someone taking antibiotics does not complete the course, the most resistant bacteria will not be killed. These can then reproduce and create even more bacteria that can resist the effects of antibiotics.
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1.
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What are antibiotics? |
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| [ ] |
Chemicals that destroy viruses |
| [ ] |
Chemicals that prevent bacteria from growing or kill them |
| [ ] |
Hormones that are found naturally in white blood cells |
| [ ] |
Hormones secreted by white blood cells that stick to antigens |
|
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2.
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What is a resistant bacteria? |
|
| [ ] |
One that can resist being squashed |
| [ ] |
One that is not affected by acids |
| [ ] |
One that is not affected by antibiotics |
| [ ] |
One that can resist an attack by a bacteriophage virus |
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3.
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MRSA is the abbreviation for which of the following? |
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| [ ] |
Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus |
| [ ] |
Microbiologically resistant staphylococcus aureus |
| [ ] |
Multi resistant staphylococcus aurelius |
| [ ] |
Microbiologically resistant streptococcus aurelius |
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4.
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How do these resistant strains of bacteria arise? |
|
| [ ] |
Natural selection |
| [ ] |
Artificial selection |
| [ ] |
Selective breeding |
| [ ] |
Non-selective breeding |
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5.
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What is the least probable outcome when a resistant strain of bacteria develops? |
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| [ ] |
Some diseases could become very difficult to control |
| [ ] |
The bacteria will grow larger |
| [ ] |
New types of antibiotic will need to be developed |
| [ ] |
An epidemic |
|
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6.
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What part of the bacteria controls resistance? |
|
| [ ] |
Chromosomes |
| [ ] |
Nucleus |
| [ ] |
Cytoplasm |
| [ ] |
Genes |
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7.
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Why should you always complete a course of antibiotics? |
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| [ ] |
So that you don't waste the money spent on your prescription |
| [ ] |
It is illegal not to finish the whole course |
| [ ] |
It avoids wasting the antibiotics |
| [ ] |
It kills off the maximum number of bacteria |
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8.
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Resistance to antibiotics is genetic. Why is this a problem? |
|
| [ ] |
Resistance can be passed on to future generations of bacteria |
| [ ] |
It means that resistant bacteria genes could become part of your genes |
| [ ] |
You might become immune to the antibiotic |
| [ ] |
It makes bacteria grow faster |
|
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9.
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What are doctors doing to slow down the development of resistant bacteria? |
|
| [ ] |
Prescribing more antibiotics |
| [ ] |
Prescribing longer courses of antibiotics |
| [ ] |
Prescribing fewer antibiotics |
| [ ] |
Not prescribing antibiotics |
|
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10.
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Which of the following answers contain the missing words in the correct order?
_________ are one cause of variation in a population of bacteria. A course of ____________ will kill off the non-resistant bacteria leaving ____________ bacteria to multiply. If these escape from the patient it is possible they can _______ others with bacteria that are not killed by antibiotics. |
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| [ ] |
Genes, antibodies, resistant, enter. |
| [ ] |
Antigens, antibiotics, resistant, infect. |
| [ ] |
Zygotes, cytoplasm, superbug, do |
| [ ] |
Mutations, antibiotics, resistant, infect. |
|
|
|
1.
|
What are antibiotics? |
|
| [ ] |
Chemicals that destroy viruses |
| [x] |
Chemicals that prevent bacteria from growing or kill them |
| [ ] |
Hormones that are found naturally in white blood cells |
| [ ] |
Hormones secreted by white blood cells that stick to antigens |
|
|
|
2.
|
What is a resistant bacteria? |
|
| [ ] |
One that can resist being squashed |
| [ ] |
One that is not affected by acids |
| [x] |
One that is not affected by antibiotics |
| [ ] |
One that can resist an attack by a bacteriophage virus |
|
|
|
3.
|
MRSA is the abbreviation for which of the following? |
|
| [x] |
Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus |
| [ ] |
Microbiologically resistant staphylococcus aureus |
| [ ] |
Multi resistant staphylococcus aurelius |
| [ ] |
Microbiologically resistant streptococcus aurelius |
|
|
|
4.
|
How do these resistant strains of bacteria arise? |
|
| [x] |
Natural selection |
| [ ] |
Artificial selection |
| [ ] |
Selective breeding |
| [ ] |
Non-selective breeding |
|
|
|
5.
|
What is the least probable outcome when a resistant strain of bacteria develops? |
|
| [ ] |
Some diseases could become very difficult to control |
| [x] |
The bacteria will grow larger |
| [ ] |
New types of antibiotic will need to be developed |
| [ ] |
An epidemic |
|
|
|
6.
|
What part of the bacteria controls resistance? |
|
| [ ] |
Chromosomes |
| [ ] |
Nucleus |
| [ ] |
Cytoplasm |
| [x] |
Genes |
|
|
|
7.
|
Why should you always complete a course of antibiotics? |
|
| [ ] |
So that you don't waste the money spent on your prescription |
| [ ] |
It is illegal not to finish the whole course |
| [ ] |
It avoids wasting the antibiotics |
| [x] |
It kills off the maximum number of bacteria |
|
|
|
8.
|
Resistance to antibiotics is genetic. Why is this a problem? |
|
| [x] |
Resistance can be passed on to future generations of bacteria |
| [ ] |
It means that resistant bacteria genes could become part of your genes |
| [ ] |
You might become immune to the antibiotic |
| [ ] |
It makes bacteria grow faster |
|
|
|
9.
|
What are doctors doing to slow down the development of resistant bacteria? |
|
| [ ] |
Prescribing more antibiotics |
| [ ] |
Prescribing longer courses of antibiotics |
| [x] |
Prescribing fewer antibiotics |
| [ ] |
Not prescribing antibiotics |
|
|
|
10.
|
Which of the following answers contain the missing words in the correct order?
_________ are one cause of variation in a population of bacteria. A course of ____________ will kill off the non-resistant bacteria leaving ____________ bacteria to multiply. If these escape from the patient it is possible they can _______ others with bacteria that are not killed by antibiotics. |
|
| [ ] |
Genes, antibodies, resistant, enter. |
| [ ] |
Antigens, antibiotics, resistant, infect. |
| [ ] |
Zygotes, cytoplasm, superbug, do |
| [x] |
Mutations, antibiotics, resistant, infect. |
|
|
