Microbiology I and II Multiple Choice Questions

1. If a human develops cysticercosis, by which means was the infection transmitted?

(a) Eating beef
(b) Eating pork
(c) Fecal oral from pig feces
(d) Fecal oral from cow feces
(e) Fecal oral from human feces

2. Which infection predisposes to bladder cancer?

(a) Schistosoma haematobium
(b) Schistosoma mansoni
(c) Schistosoma japonicum
(d) Clonorchis sinensis

3. A healthy, non-pregnant, college-aged female complains of dysuria and urinary
frequency. A urine dipstick shows 2+leukocyte esterase, with a negative nitrite. A urine
sediment shows 50 WBC and few bacteria. How should a urine culture report of rare
(10
2
) Staph. saprophyticus in her urine be interpreted?

(a) There are too few organisms in the urine culture to represent significant bacteruria;
the patient does not have a UTI.
(b) Taking the findings together, there is adequate evidence of a UTI.
(c) The findings are inconclusive. Another urine culture should be sent.
(d) The findings are inconclusive. Another urine dipstick should be sent.

4. Neisseria gonorrhoeae is able to ferment which of the following carbohydrates:

(a) Glucose only
(b) Glucose and maltose
(c) Glucose, maltose, and sucrose
(d) Glucose, maltose, sucrose, and lactose

5. Which species of Shigella is most prominent in the US?

(a) S. dysenteriae (serogroup A)
(b) S. flexneri (serogroup B)
(c) S. boydii (serogroup C)
(d) S. sonnei (serogroup D)

6. Which species of Shigella is associated with the hemolytic-uremic syndrome?

(a) S. dysenteriae (serogroup A)
(b) S. flexneri (serogroup B)
(c) S. boydii (serogroup C)
(d) S. sonnei (serogroup D)

7. Which is true of E. coli O157:H7?

(a) Ferments sorbitol
(b) Does not ferment sorbitol
(c) Does not ferment glucose
(d) Shows fluorescence when grown on MUG-containing media

8. RNA testing in HCV infection can be used to:

(a) Predict response to therapy
(b) Assess response to therapy
(c) Confirm the presence of HCV infection
(d) All of the above

9. Which of the following is a test used to differentiate between Streptococcus pneumoniae
and viridans streptococci?

(a) Bacitracin susceptibility test
(b) Optochin susceptibility test
(c) Novobiocin susceptibility test
(d) Vancomycin susceptibility test

10. Why wont H. influenzae grow on sheep blood agar?

(a) Sheep blood cells produce neither X factor nor V factor
(b) Sheep blood cells produce only X factor
(c) Sheep blood cells produce only V factor
(d) Sheep blood cells produce both X and V factors, but an enzyme present in the blood
hydrolyzes the V factor

11. A primary gram stain shows filamentous, branching gram positive rods. A modified acid
fast stain from the same specimen reveals that the bacteria are modified acid fast positive.
The organism is most likely to be which of the following:

(a) Actinomyces
(b) Streptomyces
(c) Nocardia
(d) Mycobacterium tuberculosis


12. A lung biopsy shows an invasive fungal pneumonia. Morphologically, the organism has
relatively narrow, regularly septated, hyaline hyphae, with acute angle branching.
Although you suspect Aspergillus, which of the following cannot be ruled out?

(a) Mucor
(b) Coccidioides immitis
(c) Pseudallescheria boydii/Scedosporium apiospermum
(d) Rhizopus

13. Which of the following dimorphic fungi produces a diffusible red pigment when grown
on standard culture media?

(a) Histoplasma capsulatum
(b) Penicillium marneffei
(c) Blastomyces dermatitidis
(d) Paracoccidiodes brasiliensis

14. A 9 year old child visits her primary care physician with signs and symptoms of pertussis
(whooping cough). The patients cough began 20 days prior to this visit. The childs
mother is fairly certain that the patient was properly vaccinated. In order to confirm the
diagnosis, the clinician should:

(a) Send a nasopharyngeal aspirate or swab for B. pertussis culture
(b) Send blood for B. pertussis serology
(c) Send for both culture and serology
(d) Do nothingno workup is indicated

15. When a mycobacterium is described as a scotochromogen, this means that colonies of the
organism on solid media are:

(a) Non-pigmented whether grown in dark or light
(b) Pigmented whether grown in dark or light
(c) Non-pigmented when grown in the dark, but pigmented after exposure to light
(d) Pigmented when grown in the dark, but the pigment disappears after exposure to light

16. All of the following are characteristics of dermatophytes except:


(a) Preference for a keratin-rich environment
(b) Cause infection in both healthy and immunocompromised patients
(c) Hyphae are darkly pigmented
(d) Able to grow in the presence of cycloheximide

17. All of the following are characteristics of rapid growing mycobacteria except:


(a) Positive for arylsulfatase activity in 3 days
(b) Non-pigmented
(c) Cell wall lacks mycolic acids
(d) Growth on MacConkey agar lacking crystal violet

18. Trichomonas vaginalis is an example of which type of protozoa:

(a) Amoeba
(b) Flagellate
(c) Ciliate
(d) Sporozoan

19. A 20 year old pregnant female is screened for HIV using the ELISA method. The ELISA
is positive, so a Western blot is run for confirmation. The Western blot is negative. The
correct interpretation of these findings is:
(a) The Western blot result is a false negative. The patient is infected with HIV.
(b) The ELISA result is a false positive. The patient is not infected with HIV.
(c) The results are indeterminant. The ELISA should be repeated after a few months.
(d) The results are indeterminant. The Western blot should be repeated after a few months.

20. An 18 year old male presents to his primary care physician with a sore throat, a fever of
100.5 F, and enlarged submandibular lymph nodes. The clinician realizes that acute EBV
infection is in the differential diagnosis, and orders a heterophile antibody test. The test
is negative. The correct interpretation of these findings is:
(a) The patient does not have acute EBV.
(b) The patient does have acute EBV.
(c) The negative test cannot rule out acute EBV infection. The heterophile antibody test
should be repeated after a few weeks.
(d) The negative test cannot rule out acute EBV infection. There is no point in repeating
the heterophile antibody test, because if it is negative the first time, it will always be
negative.

21. A 65 year old female is recovering from a lung transplant in the hospital. She has a 2-
week old central line. She develops a fever, and blood cultures are sent. Three of four
blood culture bottles are positive for Candida glabrata. The intern taking care of her
suggests treating her with fluconazole. The attending physician should:
(a) Agree with the intern and treat with fluconazole. Fluconazole is nearly always active
against Candida glabrata.
(b) Disagree with the intern and treat with another antifungal agent (e.g. Amphotericin
B). A significant proportion of Candida glabrata isolates from blood are fluconazole
resistant.
(c) Disagree with the intern and treat with another antifungal agent (e.g. Amphotericin
B). Candida glabrata is always resistant to fluconazole.
(d) Disagree with the intern. Fluconazole is never used to treat Candidemia.

22. A 54 year old male has a history of a mitral valve replacement 18 months prior to
admission. He presented to the emergency room with fever and chills, 2 days after he
saw his dentist for a root canal. He says he did not take prophylactic antibiotics prior to
the procedure, but did take them the next day. Blood culture are drawn, and 2/4 bottles
are positive for gram positive cocci in chains. The blood cultures are subcultured to
sheep blood agar with an optochin disk. Growth on the plate shows which alpha-
hemolytic colonies that are resistant to optochin. A catalase test is negative. The bile
esculin test is positive, but the PYR test is negative, and the isolate cannot grow in the
presence of 6.5% NaCl. The correct identification of this organism is:
(a) Streptococcus pyogenes
(b) Streptococcus pneumoniae
(c) Viridans streptococcus
(d) Streptococcus bovis
Answers: for Microbiology I & II John Branda, MD


1. E
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. D
6. A
7. B
8. D
9. B
10. D
11. C
12. C
13. B
14. A
15. B
16. C
17. C
18. B
19. D
20. C.
21. B
22. D