1. What is a virus? a submicroscopic pathogen
2. How long can a virus wait in crystalline form? centuries
3. Does a virus have the machinery to exist on its own? no
4. Where did influenza get its name? from the 15th Italians, who believed it was caused by the s tars
5. Who has the first record of small pox? the Chinese 3000 years ago
6. Name three viruses. influenza; small pox; herpes; kuru (transmitted by eating human brains); colds
7. Can viruses be seen with a light microscope? no
8. Can a virus multiply independently? no
9. Do viruses prey only on humans? Explain. No. the tulip virus has been used since the 16th century to cause color variations
10. Are viruses smaller or larger than bacteria? smaller
11. What killed more people, World War I or the influenza pandemic of 1918? influenza pandemic of 1918
12. What helped spread the influenza? World War I
13. Where does the flu virus enter the body? the nose
14. Who did not usually get small pox? milk maids
15. Who discovered the small pox vaccine? Edward Jenner
16. On whom did he perform the first vaccination? his son
17. What are the three functions of the immune system? recognition, destruction, memory
18. How are vaccines made? grown in an unnatural host
19. How does the flu virus get around the immune system? it mutates, changing shapes
20. What are the most stable viruses? DNA viruses
21. What kind of virus is small pox? DNA. Influenza? RNA
22. Can influenza cross species? yes
23. Where is the Center for Disease Control? Atlanta
24. Who developed the vaccine against polio? Jonas Salk
25. What was the breakthrough in vaccination that Salk made? the virus was deadened to prevent infection
26. What disease was the first one to be killed? small pox (1967)
27. Where was the last case of small pox found? Somalia
28. When did the disease small pox disappear? 1978
29. Where is the small pox virus? Moscow and Atlanta
30. Why hasn't small pox been destroyed? scientists want to understand how the virus works
31. Why are so many "new" viruses seen today? We are putting ourselves in the way of the viruses because of human population growth.
32. How do viruses travel? insects, rodents
33. Where does Dr. Salk believe the AIDS virus originated? a mutation of a monkey virus (from the ritual use of monkey blood)
34. What kind of virus is AIDS? Retrovirus. Explain. RNA directs DNA production, which then directs RNA production
35. How are viruses being used positively? as vectors in gene therapy
36. Can we avoid viruses? no