A student is learning about infections that can occur in the human body. Infections could be caused by viruses, bacteria, and fungus. The student learns about two infections, influenza and ringworm, and creates a table that describes the infections.

Question

Which of the following statements correctly describes Influenza, an infection caused by a virus?

a
Influenza is caused by a virus because it is a non-living infectious agent.
b
Influenza is caused by a fungus, because it is a DNA genome.
c
Influenza is caused by a virus because it is a living infectious agent that invades a host cell.
d
Influenza is caused by a bacterium because it is a non-living infectious and spreads by spores.

Answer 1

The correct statement that describes Influenza, an infection caused by a virus, is:

a. Influenza is caused by a virus because it is a non-living infectious agent.

Influenza is indeed caused by a virus (specifically, the influenza virus), and viruses are considered non-living infectious agents because they cannot reproduce or carry out metabolic processes without infecting a host cell.

The other statements are incorrect:

• b is incorrect because influenza is caused by a virus, not a fungus, and the genome of the influenza virus is RNA, not DNA.
• c is incorrect because while viruses do invade host cells to replicate, they are considered non-living.
• d is incorrect because influenza is caused by a virus, not a bacterium, and it does not spread by spores.

Thus, statement a is the most accurate.