DISEASES
  Home   /   General Knowledge   /   Diseases
1 .
Which country has approved the first-ever vaccine for honey bees which will confer protection from the foulbrood disease?
A)
India
B)
China
C)
Russia
D)
United States

Correct Answer : Option (D) - United States

Note :

World's first vaccine for honeybees was approved for use by the United States. The vaccines helps to protect bees from the American Foulbrood disease.

* A conditional license by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been granted to American biotech company Dalan Animal Health Inc for making the vaccine.
 
* The American Foulbrood disease, for which the vaccine has been made, is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae which can weaken and kill hives.

* The deadly disease originated in the US but has now spread globally.
 
* The vaccine contains killed whole-cell Paenibacillus larvae bacteria and will be administered by mixing it into the queen feed which is consumed by the worker bees.

* The vaccine is incorporated into the royal jelly by the worker bees. They will then feed it to the queen completing the process while the queen ingests it and fragments of the vaccine are deposited in her ovaries..

Source : Hindustan Times

2 .
First case of deadly brain-eating amoeba infection reported in which country?
A)
Russia
B)
China
C)
North Korea
D)
South Korea

Correct Answer : Option (D) - South Korea

Note :

South Korea has reported its first case of Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as "brain-eating amoeba".

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed that a Korean national in his 50s who died after returning from Thailand was infected with Naegleria fowleri, which destroys human brains, a report in The Korea Herald said.
 
This is the first known brain-eating amoeba infection reported in the country. The disease was first reported in the United States in 1937.
 
The man came back to Korea on December 10 after a four-month stay in Thailand. He was admitted to a hospital next day. He died on Wednesday (21st Dec 2022), The Korean Herald reported.
 
Genetic tests on three types of pathogens causing Naegleria fowleri were conducted to confirm the cause of the man's death. "The testing confirmed the gene in the man's body was 99.6 percent similar to that found in a meningitis patient reported abroad," the Korean disease control agency said.
 
Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba commonly found in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, canals and ponds throughout the world. The amoeba enters the human body by inhalation and then travels to the brain.
 
Initial symptoms include headache, fever, nausea or vomiting. Later symptoms can lead to severe headaches, fever, vomiting and a stiff neck. The incubation period for 'brain-eating amoeba' is usually from two to three days and up to 15 days at most.
 
Even though human-to-human transmission of Naegleria fowleri is not possible, the KDCA has asked residents to refrain from swimming in regions and neighborhoods where the disease broke out. It said that the risk of infection was not high, but most cases start through swimming.
 
"To prevent the infection of Naegleria fowleri, we recommend avoiding swimming and leisure-related activities and using clean water when traveling to areas where cases have been reported," Jee Young-mee, who heads the KDCA, said via a press release.
 
A total of 381 Naegleria fowleri cases have been reported as of 2018 in the world, including in the US, India and Thailand.
 
The United States has reported the maximum of 154 infections from 1962 through 2021. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only four people survived, with a death rate over 97 per cent..

Source : ABP Live

3 .
New Covid Variant, _______, sub-variant of Omicron that is prevalent in China.
A)
BB.2
B)
BD.5
C)
BF.7
D)
BH.9

Correct Answer : Option (C) - BF.7

Note :

The current surge in Covid-19 infections in China is believed to be driven by the BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron that is circulating in that country.

This isn’t the first time that BF.7 has made news — in October 2022, it started to replace the variants that were then dominant in the United States and several European countries.
 
When viruses mutate, they create lineages and sub-lineages — like the main trunk of the SARS-CoV-2 tree sprouting branches and sub-branches. The BF.7 is the same as BA.5.2.1.7, which is a sub-lineage of the Omicron sub-lineage BA.5.
 
A study published in ‘Cell Host and Microbe’ journal earlier this month reported that the BF.7 sub-variant has a 4.4-fold higher neutralisation resistance than the original D614G variant — meaning that in a lab setting, antibodies from a vaccinated or infected individual were less likely to destroy BF.7 than the original Wuhan virus that spread worldwide in 2020.
 
But BF.7 is not the most resilient sub-variant — the same study reported a more than 10-fold higher neutralisation resistance in another Omicron sub-variant called BQ.1..

Source : Indian Express

4 .
Scientists revived a 48,500-year-old Zombie Virus buried in ice in which country?
A)
Denmark
B)
Russia
C)
China
D)
United States

Correct Answer : Option (B) - Russia

Note :

French scientists have revived a 48,500-year-old “zombie virus” buried under a frozen lake in Russia.
 
* According to New York Post, the French scientists have sparked fears of yet another pandemic after the revival of the zombie virus.
 
* The New York Post has quoted a viral study which is yet to be peer-reviewed. "The situation would be much more disastrous in the case of plant, animal, or human diseases caused by the revival of an ancient unknown virus," reads the study.
 
* According to the preliminary report, global warming is irrevocably thawing enormous swathes of permafrost -- permanently frozen ground that covers a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere. This has had the unsettling effect of "releasing organic materials frozen for up to a million years" - possibly deadly germs included.
 
* The oldest, Pandoravirus yedoma, was 48,500-year-old, a record age for a frozen virus returning to a form where it may infect other creatures. This breaks the previous record of a 30,000-year-old virus identified in Siberia by the same scientists in 2013.
 
* The new strain is one of 13 viruses described in the study, each with its own genome, according to Science Alert.
 
* While the Pandoravirus was discovered at the bottom of a lake in Yukechi Alas, Yakutia, Russia, others have been discovered everywhere from mammoth fur to Siberian wolf intestines..

Source : Tribune India

5 .
Monkeypox Disease Name Changed to _____ by World Health Organisation(WHO).
A)
Mpox
B)
MKpox
C)
Mky-P
D)
Mky-Pox

Correct Answer : Option (A) - Mpox

Note :

Monkeypox will now be known as mpox, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday(28th Nov 2022), in the wake of reports of racist and stigmatizing language surrounding the name of the disease. 
 
* The decision follows a series of consultations with global experts. 
 
* Both terms will be used simultaneously for a year before the monkeypox name is phased out. 
 
* “This serves to mitigate the concerns raised by experts about confusion caused by a name change in the midst of a global outbreak”. 
 
 
Concern and change :
* Mpox is a rare viral disease that primarily occurs in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, but outbreaks emerged in other parts of the world this year.   
 
* There have more than 80,000 cases, and 55 deaths, with 110 countries affected. 
 
* When the current outbreak expanded, WHO both observed and received reports of racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities. 
 
* “In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name,”
 
Naming new diseases :
* The monkeypox name was given in 1970, some 12 years after the virus that causes the disease was discovered in captive monkeys. 
 
* This was before WHO first published best practices on naming diseases in 2015. 
 
* These guidelines recommend that new disease names should aim to minimize unnecessary negative impacts on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare. 
 
* They should also avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. 

Source : News.UN

6 .
Who developed India's first nasal vaccine against COVID-19 approved by DCGI?
A)
GENoMiX
B)
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
C)
Serum Institute of India
D)
Bharat Biotech

Correct Answer : Option (D) - Bharat Biotech

Note :

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday(6th September 2022) approved the country’s first intra-nasal Covid-19 vaccine -- Bharat Biotech’s iNCOVACC -- for restricted emergency use in those aged above 18 years.

It’s only the second such vaccine in the world, after CanSino Biologics’ vaccine in China, to get regulatory approval. Around 100 mucosal (nose and mouth) Covid-19 vaccines are under development across the world.
 
iNCOVACC is a chimpanzee adenovirus vectored recombinant nasal vaccine that has been specifically formulated to allow intra-nasal delivery through nasal drops. The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed to be cost effective in low- and middle-income countries, the company said. The vaccine is stable at 2-8°C.
 
Union Health Minister "Mansukh Mandaviya" said the vaccine has been approved for “primary immunisation against Covid-19 in the 18+ age group for restricted use in emergency situation”..

Source : Business Standard

7 .
Which country was the first to approve the world's first needle-free, inhaled version of the Covid-19 vaccine?
A)
US
B)
China
C)
Russia
D)
India

Correct Answer : Option (B) - China

Note :

China became the first country to approve a needle-free, inhaled version of a Covid-19 vaccine made by Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics Inc., pushing the company’s shares up as much as 14.5% Monday(5th Sep 2022) morning in Hong Kong.
 
China’s National Medical Products Administration approved CanSino’s Ad5-nCoV for emergency use as a booster vaccine, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday(4th Sep 2022)..

Source : Business Standard

8 .
Which pharmaceutical company will launch India’s first cervical cancer vaccine?
A)
Serum Institute of India
B)
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
C)
Aurobindo Pharma
D)
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Correct Answer : Option (A) - Serum Institute of India

Note :

India will get its indigenous vaccine for cervical cancer on Thursday(1st Sep 2022). The vaccine is expected to make treatment easier for the patients. The vaccine will be launched by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India on 1 September 2022.
 
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) had given market authorization for the vaccine on 12 July 2022.   
 
* This is India's first Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) against cervical cancer.
 
* This vaccine will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII)..

Source : Zeebiz

9 .
India's first indigenously developed RT-PCR kit for testing monkeypox disease has been developed by which company?
A)
Embio Limited
B)
AGD Biomedicals Pvt. Ltd
C)
Transasia Bio-Medicals
D)
Calantha Biotech Pvt. Ltd

Correct Answer : Option (C) - Transasia Bio-Medicals

Note : India’s first indigenously developed RT-PCR testing fit for Monkeypox made by Erba-Transasia was launched on August 19, 2022, at the Andhra Pradesh Med Tech Zone. India has reported 9 cases of Monkeypox. At present, countries have been using the repurposed smallpox vaccines to treat Monkeypox.

10 .
Who has given permission for the "Imvanex vaccine" to be marketed as protection against monkeypox?
A)
US Commission
B)
European Commission
C)
Australian commission
D)
Russian commission

Correct Answer : Option (B) - European Commission

Note :

Danish biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic said on Monday(25th July 2022) the European Commission had given permission for its Imvanex vaccine to be marketed as protection against monkeypox, as recommended last week by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Globally, over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries.
 
In the current outbreak in countries and amongst the reported monkeypox cases, transmission appears to be occurring primarily through close physical contact, including sexual contact. Transmission can also occur from contaminated materials such as linens, bedding, electronics, and clothing, that have infectious skin particles.
 
Imvanex is a non-replicating smallpox vaccine developed in collaboration with the U.S. government to ensure the supply of a smallpox vaccine for the entire population, including immunocompromised individuals.
 
The vaccine gained regulatory approvals in Canada (marketed as Imvamune) and the U.S. (marketed as Jynneos) where the approvals have been extended to include the monkeypox indication as the only vaccine obtained this to-date.
 
The vaccine was approved by the European Commission in 2013 for immunization against smallpox in adults aged 18 years and older.
 
Imvanex can be used as active immunisation against smallpox, monkeypox and disease caused by the vaccinia virus in adults..

Source : Mint