Communicable Diseases, Disease Prevention and the Immune System | OCR A-Level Biology A (H420)
Communicable Diseases, Disease Prevention and the Immune System
- 88 questions
- 8 subtopics
- Module 4: Biodiversity, evolution and disease
- Component 02 and Component 03
Communicable diseases, disease prevention and the immune system opens Module 4, examined on Biological Diversity.
It covers the four types of pathogen and how they spread, the defences of plants and animals, phagocytosis and the specific immune response, antibodies, the forms of immunity and vaccination, and antibiotic resistance.
Sample questions from Communicable Diseases, Disease Prevention and the Immune System
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Pathogens and how disease is transmitted
Which viral disease affects animals such as birds and pigs?
Show the answer
Influenza. -
Plant defences and non-specific animal defences
Why is blood clotting considered a primary non-specific defence?
Show the answer
Blood clotting is a primary non-specific defence because it seals wounds to prevent pathogen entry, regardless of the type of pathogen. -
Phagocytes and phagocytosis
What are antigen-presenting cells and what do they do after engulfing pathogens?
Show the answer
Antigen-presenting cells are phagocytes that display pathogen antigens on their surface after engulfing pathogens, allowing recognition by other immune cells. -
The specific immune response
What is clonal expansion?
Show the answer
Clonal expansion is the rapid division of selected lymphocytes to produce many identical cells. -
Antibodies
How many polypeptide chains make up an antibody, and what are they called?
Show the answer
Antibodies consist of four polypeptide chains: two heavy chains and two light chains. -
Types of immunity
What is artificial immunity?
Show the answer
Artificial immunity is acquired through deliberate medical intervention. -
Vaccination
What is herd immunity and why do vaccination programmes aim to achieve it?
Show the answer
Herd immunity occurs when a large proportion of a population is immune, protecting those who cannot be vaccinated by reducing pathogen transmission. -
Medicines and antibiotic resistance
What are personalised medicines?
Show the answer
Personalised medicines are treatments tailored to an individual's genetic makeup.
The 8 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Pathogens and how disease is transmitted | Bacteria, viruses, protoctista and fungi with a named disease of each, and the vectors, spores, climate and social factors that spread them. | 17 |
| Plant defences and non-specific animal defences | Chemical defences and callose deposition in plants, and skin, blood clotting, wound repair, inflammation, expulsive reflexes and mucous membranes in animals. | 12 |
| Phagocytes and phagocytosis | How a phagocyte engulfs a pathogen, the phagosome and the lysosomes that destroy it, and the roles of opsonins, cytokines and antigen-presenting cells. | 8 |
| The specific immune response | B and T lymphocytes, clonal selection and expansion, plasma cells, T helper and T killer cells, and how the secondary response differs from the primary. | 12 |
| Antibodies | The four polypeptide chains and the variable and constant regions, and how antibodies act as opsonins, agglutinins and anti-toxins. | 10 |
| Types of immunity | Active and passive immunity, natural and artificial immunity and how each is acquired, and what happens when the system attacks the body's own tissue. | 10 |
| Vaccination | What a vaccine contains and how it produces long-term immunity, herd immunity and the prevention of epidemics, and why programmes change over time. | 8 |
| Medicines and antibiotic resistance | Where medicines come from and what personalised medicine means, and how antibiotic resistance arises, what accelerates it and what it means for treatment. | 11 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby sections
OCR A-Level Biology A Active Recall Guide
Every section, not just this one. 1,833 questions with their answers.