Do you know tetanus from zika or the flu from the common cold? Test yourself with our viral quiz.

Every breath of air, every sip of water, everything we eat is awash with vast numbers of astonishingly small viruses and bacteria, each evolved as strikingly beautiful geometric forms; but some are amongst our most dangerous enemies.

You might have noticed we’ve been talking a lot about viruses lately. That’s because we’re showing beautiful microscopic images of viruses and bacteria at Vivid Sydney. So do you know tetanus from zika or the flu from the common cold? Test yourself with our viral quiz.

Results

Well done! Let’s hope your intelligence is infectious! (sorry, couldn’t help it)

Hey, it’s the effort that counts, right? Rest, fluids and you’ll get over it.

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#1. It’s spread by mosquitoes and can cause serious birth defects in unborn children.

#2. It can cause diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting and is often the cause of mass illness on cruise ships.

#3. While you might not immediately think it’s very dangerous, outbreaks of this virus cause many deaths.

#4. It’s the most common viral infectious agent in humans and is also known as the common cold.

#5. A common misconception is that it infects people through rust but it actually makes its home in soil and dust.

#6. This bacterium is named after the sound the sufferer makes when coughing

Finish

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We let the public peek under the microscope and see more beautiful and dangerous viruses at Vivid Sydney.

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9 comments

  1. Trevor

    19th June 2018 at 5:44 pm

    Er.. not to be too pedantic but that would be sufferER inQ1

    1. Ellen Singleton

      20th June 2018 at 8:10 am

      Thanks for the pick up Trevor, we’ve fixed it 🙂

  2. Camilla

    11th June 2018 at 11:16 pm

    It would help make this a learning experience if you say what the correct answers should be at the end and not just mark them as right or wrong. Thanks.

  3. Alex

    10th June 2018 at 8:46 am

    apostrophe abuse in q6…

  4. Hamish Foster

    8th June 2018 at 3:43 pm

    Whooping cough is caused by a bacterium…..not a virus

    1. Jesse Hawley

      8th June 2018 at 4:25 pm

      Thanks, Hamish. Amended.

  5. Fran

    8th June 2018 at 3:11 pm

    I’m sure the first answer is whooping cough – but I’ve now selected all 4 answers and they’ve all come up wrong. What’s the answer?

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