Vaccines: Saving Lives One Shot at a Time!

#85 Week 18

Author

Sigrun Sørumgård
April 29, 2025

Test your knowledge about vaccines and the diseases they help prevent!Where does the name “January” originate?

  1. What does the MMR vaccine protect against?

  2. What is the name of the vaccine against cervical cancer?

  3. What kind of disease does the BCG vaccine protect against?

  4. Which childhood disease with high fever and rash has been virtually eradicated in Europe due to vaccination, but is making a comeback in the United States?

  5. What is the name of the disease you get vaccinated against if you are going to certain tropical regions and need to have an international vaccination card?

  6. What is the name of the global organization that distributes vaccines to low-income countries?

  7. What disease does the RTS,S (Mosquirix) vaccine, which was approved by the WHO in 2021, protect against?

  8. What disease is the rotavirus vaccine used to vaccinate children against in many countries?

  9. What was a common misconception about the smallpox vaccine in the 19th century?

  10. What was the name of the first mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine approved in the West?

The Wonder Wall

  • Between 1974-2024, vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives. That’s over 3 million per year, or six people every minute for five decades. The majority of lives saved by vaccination programs were infants.

  • Speaking of infants, vaccination has directly contributed to reducing infant deaths globally by 40% over the last five decades. On the continent of Africa, that figure is over 50%.

  • Smallpox was “one of the deadliest diseases known to humans,” and has a long history. The first cases date as far back as 1350 BCE. There was no known cure for this highly infectious disease. But thanks to vaccines and immunization programs globally, smallpox was officially eradicated in 1980.

Yesterday´s Questions & Answers

  1. What is the name of the comic strip where we meet two twin boys who rebel against authority, most often personified by their mother Mama; the Captain, a sailor who acted as a surrogate father; and der Inspector, a long-bearded school official.

    The Katzenjammer Kids is a comic strip created by the German-American Rudolph Dirks (1877–1968). It is considered by many to be the world's first modern comic strip, with the possible exception of The Yellow Kid.

  2. What is Spider-Man called in "real life"?

    Peter Parker

  3. What is the name of the cowboy who shoots faster than his own shadow?

    Lucky Luke

  4. What is the name of the witch who tries to steal Uncle Scrooge's lucky ring?

    Magica De Spell

  5. Which character eats spinach to become strong?

    Popeye

  6. What is the name of the boy in  “Peanuts” who never wins a baseball game and never makes his kite fly?

    Charlie Brown. His most important character trait is his self-destructive stubbornness: he never manages to win a game, but continues to play baseball; he never manages to make a kite fly, but tries anyway.

  7. Who created “Calvin and Hobbes”?

    William Boyd Watterson II (born 1958) is an American cartoonist.

  8. What is the name of the inventor in Ducktown who often makes bizarre inventions?

    Gyro Gearloose, his first appearance in the Donald Duck comic strip was in a Carl Barks story from 1952. Since then, Petty Smart has been in many stories about Donald and Scrooge McDuck, and he has both helped Scrooge with one of his inventions, but also almost ruined him.

  9. What is the name of Batman's faithful butler?

    Alfred Pennyworth

  10. What is the name of one of Mickey Mouse's archenemies, the villain who is dressed in a black sheet, black gloves and boots?

    The Phantom Blot is next to Black Pete, Mickey Mouse's nemesis.