A Quiz: Things that bug us about summer

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Are you ready for summer? How much do you really know about the day-to-day conditions and hazards you may encounter? Take this summer quiz to find out:


1) True or false: Eating garlic or vitamin B will make you naturally repellent to mosquitoes.

2) If you plant a lot of this type of flower in your yard it may cut down on visiting mosquitoes.

a. Daisies

b. Roses

c. Chrysanthemums

d. Impatiens

3) Mosquitoes are attracted to this color (so don't wear it!):

a. Yellow

b. Blue

c. Orange

d. Red

4) Prime attack times for mosquitoes are:

a. Dusk

b. Noon

c. Dawn

d. Both dawn and dusk

5) Which of these methods help ease the itching from a mosquito bite?

a. Wash the bite with soap and water

b. Ice the bump

c. Dissolve one tablespoon of Epsom salts in one quart of hot water, chill it and apply to the bite

d. Put the hottest water you can stand on a cloth and slap it on the bite.

e. All of the above

Poison ivy

6) True or false: You cannot get exposed to the toxic oil on poison ivy unless its signature three leaves have appeared on its stem.

7) At what time of year is poison ivy's toxic urushiol content the highest?

a. August

b. July

c. Spring, early summer

d. Late summer, early fall

8) What percentage of the population is resistant to poison ivy?

a. 30 percent

b. 15 percent

c. 10 percent

d. 5 percent

9) True or false: It is possible to get a rash from exposure to dead poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac plants.

Sun exposure

10) A SPF of 15 will absorb how much ultraviolet radiation?

a. 15 percent

b. 50 percent

c. 67 percent

d. 93 percent

11) True or false: A SPF of 100 provides 100 percent protection.

12) Which type of ultraviolet light contributes to a risk of skin cancer?

a. Only ultraviolet A

b. Only ultraviolet B

c. Both ultraviolent A and B

13) To protect against both ultraviolet A and B rays, choose this kind of sunscreen:

a. One enriched with vitamin D

b. Broad-spectrum

c. Waterproof

d. SPF 100

14) The Food and Drug Administration considers a sunscreen product "waterproof" if it maintains its SPF level following how much time exposed to water?

a. 4 1/2 hours

b. 2 hours

c. 80 minutes

d. 35 minutes

15) On cloudy days, up to what percent of the sun's harmful UV rays can penetrate your skin?

a. 0 percent

b. 25 percent

c. 60 percent

d. 80 percent


16) Deer ticks are active above what temperature:

a. 70 degrees

b. 45 degrees

c. 65 degrees

d. 55 degrees

17) Infected deer ticks attached to your skin don't start transmitting Lyme disease until how many hours after attachment:

a. 36 to 48 hours

b. Six hours

c. 12 to 24 hours

d. One hour

18) Patients can develop these symptoms if bitten by a deer tick carrying Lyme disease:

a. bulls-eye rash

b. muscle or joint aches

c. headache

d. weakness and fever, swollen lymph nodes

e. all of the above

19) If you find a tick attached to your skin, this is the best way to remove it:

a. Grasp the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and twist it out

b. Place a hot match near its head to force it to release its grasp and back up out of your skin

c. Cover it with a dab of petroleum jelly before pulling it out with tweezers

d. Grasp the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pull it straight out gently and steadily

Odds & ends

20) When preparing for a long-distance summer car trip, how many tires should you check on your car?

a. Front two

b. Back two

c. All four tires

d. Five tires

21) According to AAA, which problem on the list below accounts for the most vehicle breakdowns during the summer?

a. Dead battery

b. Flat tire

c. Overheated engine

d. Broken window wipers

22) If you're picnicking in temperatures above 90 degrees, what is the maximum amount of time that items needing refrigeration should stay out of the cooler?

a. Two hours

b. Three hours

c. One hour

d. Thirty minutes

23) A relative humidity of what percentage can hamper sweat evaporation to the point it can hinder your body's ability to cool itself, which could lead to heat exhaustion and other problems.

a. 90 percent

b. 80 percent

c. 70 percent

d. 60 percent

24) If you're stuck in a riptide in the ocean:

a. Dog paddle toward shore

b. Dive under the waves toward shore, kicking feverishly

c. Swim parallel to shore roughly 50 to 100 feet

d. Float on your back as if you're on the Lazy River

25) If you're stung by a jellyfish (in North America) what's the quickest way for someone to treat the skin?

a. Rinse it with freshwater

b. Rinse it with saltwater

c. Urinate on it, as depicted in a 1997 episode of "Friends"

d. Rub it with sand

Bonus questions

(For the true adventurer)

1) A crocodile can hold its breath up to this long under water:

a. One hour

b. Half hour

c. 15 minutes

d. 20 minutes

2) What creatures kill more humans than any other animals in the world?

a. Snakes

b. Sharks

c. Mosquitoes

d. Bees


1) False

2) c. Chrysanthemums contain pyrethrum, a derivative of which is used in propane foggers. Insect repellents made for pets also contain this flower derivative, which causes the insects to have spasms and fall to the ground.

3) d.

4) d.

5) All of the above

6) False, you can be exposed to the toxic oil even if leaves haven't come out yet

7) c.

8) b.

9) True, in fact the urushiol remains active for years

10) d.

11) False, nothing provides 100 percent protection

12) c.

13) b.

14) c.

15) d.

16) b.

17) a.

18) e.

19) d.

20) d., this includes the spare

21) a., extreme heat can be just as damaging to batteries as extreme cold in the winter

22) c.

23) d.

24) c., instead of swimming against the rip current, swim perpendicular to it in either direction. Rip currents are typically only 20-100 feet wide. Once you leave the rip, swim at an angle away from it toward shore. Or d., you can sometimes float away from the riptide

25) b., saltwater deactivates the nematocysts that release the painful venom. A freshwater rinse will change the balance of solutes, setting off more stinging.

Bonus No. 1): a.

Bonus No. 2): c., because of the diseases they spread, (malaria, filariasis, dengue, yellow fever, etc.), which thankfully are rarely found in North America.

Sources: Post-Gazette research, "The Mosquito Book," by Scott Anderson and Tony Dierckins (Dennoch Press, $6.95). American Melanoma Foundation; American Academy of Dermatology, American Lyme Disease Foundation, American Automobile Association, Scientific American, WebMD.

Virginia Linn: vlinn@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1662

mobilehome - health

Virginia Linn: vlinn@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1662.


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