Mark Wise's Sample Questions:

Click here for his answer key.

  1. Which of the following might be responsible for a case of bloody diarrhea in a tourist to Mexico?

 

A.     Enterotoxigenic E. coli

B.     giardiasis

C.    too much sun and alcohol

D.    shigellosis

 

2.      Which of the following travellers would not be at higher risk of Economy Class Syndrome (traveller’s thrombosis)?

A.    a pregnant woman

    1. someone with a past history of phlebitis
    2. a healthy man flying economy class to Europe
    3. a lady with metastatic cancer

 

  1. Which of the following would not be acceptable alternatives for malaria prophylaxis for someone traveling through Ghana and Nigeria?
    1. mefloquine (Lariam)
    2. chloroquine plus paludrine
    3. doxycycline
    4. Malarone (atovaquone/proguanil)

 

  1. The risk of death from hepatitis A for a traveller 50-years-old or greater is approximately
    1. 1%
    2. 1-3%
    3. 5-8%
    4. 10-13%

 

  1. Mefloquine (Lariam) would not be a wise choice for malaria prophylaxis for which of the following  travellers off to Kenya and Tanzania on safari?
    1. a 35 week pregnant woman
    2. a 50 year old man on a beta-blocker for hypertension
    3. a 10 kg child
    4. a 25 year old woman who suffers from panic disorder

 

  1. Acute mountain sickness most resembles
    1. pregnancy
    2. a gall bladder attack
    3. a hangover
    4. an anxiety attack

 

  1. The most common cause of death among travellers to developing countries is
    1. malaria
    2. motor vehicle accidents
    3. drowning
    4. hepatitis A
  2. Which of the following vaccines must be stored in your freezer?
    1. injectable typhoid vaccine (Typhim Vi)
    2. yellow fever vaccine
    3. Japanese encephalitis vaccine
    4. rabies vaccine

 

  1. Malaria is commonly transmitted in the urban areas of which of the following regions:
    1. Southeast Asia
    2. SubSaharan Africa
    3. South America
    4. Central America

 

  1. Your traveller, who is allergic to sulfa, is planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and throughout East Africa.  Which medication would be appropriate for treatment of potential medical problems?
    1. Fansidar (sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine)
    2. Diamox (acetazolamide)
    3. Bactrim ( trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole)
    4. Cipro (ciprofloxacin)

 

  1.  A 25 year-old male is admitted to the hospital for unexplained high fever and diarrhea over the last week. He returned 4 months ago from a 1 month trip to India. He states that he took mefloquine weekly as prescribed without fail. The most appropriate first diagnostic step is
    1. a stool exam for ova and parasites
    2. a blood culture to rule out typhoid fever
    3. a blood smear for malaria parasites
    4. amoebic and dengue serology

 

  1. Which of the following would likely not help reduce the risk of acquiring HIV while travelling in Africa:
    1. condoms
    2. insect repellent
    3. avoiding nighttime buses
    4. carrying sterile syringes

 

  1. An elevated eosinophil count in a healthy traveller returned from West Africa might make you consider a diagnosis of
    1. schistosomiasis
    2. malaria
    3. HIV/AIDS
    4. giardiasis

                       

  1. Which of the following people would you appreciate sitting beside you on your flight to Bangkok?
    1. a 25 year-old acutely psychotic man
    2. Brad Pitt or Penelope Cruz
    3. a gentleman with a hemoglobin level of 80
    4. a 65 year old man with unstable angina
    5. a lady who had laparoscopic gall bladder surgery 4 days ago

 

  1.  The best course of action should you be confronted by a potentially venomous snake would be to
    1. stand still until the snake slinks away
    2. throw rocks at it
    3. run away as fast as you can
    4. wrap a tourniquet above your knee

 

  1.  Walking barefoot on a secluded Caribbean beach would not predispose you to which of the following?
    1. cutaneous larva migrans
    2. myiasis
    3. getting mugged
    4. jellyfish envenomation

 

  1. Which of the following would constitute an increased risk in an HIV positive traveller?
    1. malaria

B.     Enterotoxigenic E. coli

    1. tuberculosis
    2. rabies vaccine

 

  1. Which of the following febrile illnesses seen in travellers would not be characterized by a rash:
    1. dengue fever
    2. tick typhus
    3. meningococcal disease
    4. malaria

 

  1. Which of the following infections has the highest mortality rate?
    1. cerebral malaria
    2. yellow fever
    3. rabies
    4. Ebola virus

 

  1. Higher concentrations of DEET (e.g. 95%)
    1. will likely cause convulsions in adults
    2. are safe in small children
    3. will repel tsetse flies
    4. will provide longer protection than lower concentrations

 

  1. Plasmodium falciparum resistance to mefloquine is found primarily in
    1. Sub-Saharan Africa
    2. Central America
    3. South America
    4. Southeast Asia

 

  1. Which of the following hockey players did not play for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadians?
    1. Dickie Duff
    2. Norm Ullman
    3. Frank Mahovlich
    4. Bert Olmstead

 

  1. Yellow fever vaccine would be required for which traveller:
    1. a one week trip to Brasil for Carnival
    2. a 3 month trip to Tanzania to work at a gold mine
    3. a 2 week tour to Kenya and Egypt and then home
    4. a 2 year job volunteering in Cambodia

 

24.     The cabin pressure in most commercial aircraft simulates an altitude of about

A.    sea level

B.     5,000 – 8,000 feet

C.    15,000 feet

D.    30,000 feet

 

25.     Culture shock results from

A.    a sudden change in temperature upon arrival in a foreign country

B.     the sight of extreme poverty and begging on the way in from the airport

C.    the stress of losing much of what is familiar to us and being exposed to surroundings which are quite different

D.    mefloquine

 

26.     Which statement regarding malaria is true?

A.    the drugs used for prevention are worse than the actual disease

B.     once you have malaria, it stays with you forever

C.    if you have a fever upon your return from Nigeria and your malaria smear is negative, then you don’t have malaria.

D.    cerebral malaria is a complication of Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

 

27.     Intradermal rabies vaccine should not be given to

A.    children less than 5 years of age

B.     pregnant women

C.    someone taking chloroquine for malaria prophylaxis

D.    within 2 weeks of departure

 

28.     An insulin-dependent diabetic who is hoping to travel should

A.    avoid trips that involve crossing more than 8 time zones

B.     plan on obtaining additional diabetic supplies at his/her destination

C.    pack extra bottles of insulin in their checked luggage

D.    aim for good, though not perfect, blood sugar control on their way to their destination.

 

29.     Malaria resistant to mefloquine (Lariam) is found along the

A.    Kenya -Tanzania border

B.     Thai – Cambodian border

C.    Vietnamese – Thai border

D.    India – Pakistan border

 

30.     Ticks are a vector of

A.    malaria

B.     Rocky Mountain spotted fever

C.    onchocerciasis

D.    chiggers