Last week I gave you some questions that community college students have answered to assess their current knowledge about AIDS. This week I will give you the answers for each of the questions. With some of the questions the answers may change with time. The most common mode of transmission of a particular disease can change especially if a the disease can be acquired in several different ways.
This is not a test. For questions 1-6 follow the directions in bold.
Compare statements A and B and write
A if A is greater than B
B if B is greater than A
C if A and B are equal or nearly equal
1. In 1998, the number of new cases of
A. Gonorrhea.
B. AIDS.
The answer is A. Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease
that 88,345 people reported getting in 1998 (data from United States). Only 11,900 people reported
getting AIDS in 1998. In the United States, gonorrhea is a much more common
disease than AIDS. It is caused by a bacteria called
Neisseria gonorrhoeae (For
more information on this disease). A person with gonorrhea can
be cured of this infection with antibiotics. Rarely, does this infection
result in death of the patient.
2. During heterosexual intercourse between 24 and 44 years of age, the
likelihood that the
A. Woman will get AIDS.
B. Man will get AIDS.
The answer is A. Heterosexually active women are more likely
to get most sexually transmitted diseases than their heterosexual male
partners. That is because the fluid (semen) placed in the female partner
stays in the person much longer allowing the organisms time to cause an
infection. The male partner is not exposed to the female's infectious vaginal
fluids as long and therefore the chances a male will be infected when exposed
to an infected female are less. If a condom is used then it is less likely
that partners will infect each other.
3. The likelihood that a 24-year old with AIDS contracted the diseases
as a
A. Young adult.
B. Teenager.
The answer is B. Teenagers are less likely to engage in safer
sexual practices if they are sexually active. Young adults more frequently
utilize safer sexual practices.
4. In 1998, the United States, the rate of new AIDS cases among
A. Hispanic White.
B. Non Hispanic White.
The answer is A. Only 6 percent of the population is Hispanic.
Unfortunately, 16 percent of all AIDS patients are Hispanic white. If AIDS
was evenly distributed among all races in the United States you would expect
only 6 percent of the AIDS patients to be Hispanic white. The rate of HIV/AIDS
in the Hispanic white population is significantly (about three times) higher
