Quizmo

Quiz on Vaccines

20 questions · June 27, 2026

Below is the full Quizmo quiz devoted to the theme "Vaccines": each question, its four options, the correct answer highlighted and, where available, its source. A chance to brush up on your general knowledge and then test what you know.

▶ Play today's quiz

Question 1

Easy

Who developed the first successful smallpox vaccine?

Source: Jenner tested his idea on a young boy in 1796, launching the science of immunization.

Question 2

Easy

The word 'vaccine' comes from the Latin word for which animal?

Source: It comes from 'vacca,' Latin for cow, because the very first vaccine used cowpox.

Question 3

Easy

Which disease was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980 thanks to vaccination?

Source: Smallpox is still the only human disease ever wiped off the planet.

Question 4

Easy

Vaccines work mainly by training which part of the body?

Source: Vaccines are basically a training drill for your immune system, with no real enemy needed.

Question 5

Easy

Who created an injected polio vaccine in the 1950s?

Source: Salk refused to patent his polio vaccine, reportedly asking 'Could you patent the sun?'

Question 6

Easy

The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna use which technology?

Source: mRNA vaccines carry a recipe, not the virus, so your own cells make the target protein.

Question 7

Easy

The MMR vaccine protects against measles, mumps and which third disease?

Source: Rubella is also called German measles, the third disease in the MMR trio.

Question 8

Easy

What is the main purpose of a booster shot?

Source: Boosters top up antibody levels that naturally fade months or years after the first shots.

Question 9

Easy

The bacteria that cause tetanus and 'lockjaw' mainly live where?

Source: Tetanus spores live in soil; rust itself is harmless, the myth just comes from dirty nails in the ground.

Question 10

Easy

Herd immunity protects a community mainly by doing what?

Source: When enough people are immune, a germ runs out of new hosts and can't spread.

Question 11

Medium

Which vaccine was famously delivered as drops on a sugar cube?

Source: The oral polio vaccine was dripped onto sugar cubes to make mass campaigns simple.

Question 12

Medium

Which immune cells provide the durable, long-term protection a vaccine gives?

Source: Memory cells can recall a germ for decades, which is why some vaccines last a lifetime.

Question 13

Medium

How often is the seasonal flu vaccine typically reformulated?

Source: Flu viruses mutate so fast that scientists update the vaccine recipe annually.

Question 14

Medium

Which ingredient is added to a vaccine to boost the immune response?

Source: Adjuvants like aluminium salts act as an alarm, making the immune response much stronger.

Question 15

Medium

The HPV vaccine helps prevent which type of cancer?

Source: HPV vaccination has dramatically cut cervical cancer rates wherever it's widely used.

Question 16

Medium

How were the original Pfizer COVID vaccines famously stored?

Source: The original Pfizer vaccine had to be kept near -70°C, colder than an Antarctic winter.

Question 17

Medium

The BCG vaccine protects mainly against which disease?

Source: BCG, in use since the 1920s, is one of the most widely given vaccines on Earth.

Question 18

Hard

The MMR and chickenpox vaccines use a form of the virus that is...?

Source: Live-attenuated vaccines use weakened germs that still multiply gently to teach immunity.

Question 19

Hard

Which vaccine is recorded in the international certificate some countries require for entry?

Source: Yellow fever is the only vaccine with a WHO certificate some countries demand at the border.

Question 20

Hard

Which vaccine still works when given after exposure to the disease?

Source: Rabies shots work even after a bite because the virus crawls slowly toward the brain.

← See all quizzes in the archive