DHA Exam Infectious Diseases MCQs: Practice Questions With Answers
Sample DHA licensing exam MCQs from Infectious Diseases — the largest DHA specialty still without a dedicated practice post — covering tuberculosis, malaria, viral hepatitis and dengue, in the clinical-vignette style tested on the exam.
Infectious Diseases is the fourth-largest subject in HighYield's DHA question bank — behind only Family Medicine, Cardiology and Neurology — and it's the largest specialty area that doesn't yet have its own dedicated practice post. Below is a sample set of Infectious Diseases MCQs in the same clinical-vignette style tested on the DHA licensing exam for Pakistani doctors applying for a Dubai medical licence.
Tuberculosis
1. The gold-standard confirmatory test for pulmonary tuberculosis is:
- A) Chest X-ray
- B) Sputum culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis ✅
- C) Mantoux test
- D) Sputum Gram stain
2. The standard first-line anti-tuberculosis regimen for a new case includes isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and:
- A) Streptomycin
- B) Ethambutol ✅
- C) Ciprofloxacin
- D) Doxycycline
3. Which anti-TB drug is most associated with optic neuritis as a side effect?
- A) Isoniazid
- B) Rifampicin
- C) Pyrazinamide
- D) Ethambutol ✅
4. Isoniazid therapy is classically associated with a deficiency of which vitamin, requiring supplementation?
- A) Vitamin B12
- B) Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) ✅
- C) Vitamin C
- D) Vitamin D
Malaria
5. Malaria is transmitted by the bite of an infected:
- A) Aedes mosquito
- B) Anopheles mosquito ✅
- C) Culex mosquito
- D) Tsetse fly
6. The most severe form of malaria, associated with cerebral malaria, is caused by:
- A) Plasmodium vivax
- B) Plasmodium ovale
- C) Plasmodium falciparum ✅
- D) Plasmodium malariae
7. The standard method to diagnose and identify malaria species is:
- A) Rapid antigen test only
- B) Peripheral blood smear (thick and thin films) ✅
- C) Blood culture
- D) Serum antibody titre
Viral Hepatitis
8. A positive IgM anti-HAV indicates:
- A) Chronic hepatitis A infection
- B) Past infection with immunity
- C) Acute/recent hepatitis A infection ✅
- D) Vaccination response
9. Persistence of HBsAg in serum for more than 6 months indicates:
- A) Resolved hepatitis B infection
- B) Chronic hepatitis B infection ✅
- C) Hepatitis B immunity
- D) Acute hepatitis B only
10. Which hepatitis virus is transmitted primarily via the fecal-oral route and has no chronic carrier state?
- A) Hepatitis B
- B) Hepatitis C
- C) Hepatitis A ✅
- D) Hepatitis D
Dengue & Typhoid
11. A key laboratory finding supporting a diagnosis of dengue fever is:
- A) Leukocytosis
- B) Thrombocytopenia ✅
- C) Polycythemia
- D) Eosinophilia
12. The dengue antigen used for early diagnosis, within the first few days of fever, is:
- A) IgG ELISA
- B) NS1 antigen ✅
- C) Widal test
- D) IgM only
13. The gold-standard test for diagnosing typhoid fever is:
- A) Widal test
- B) Blood culture ✅
- C) Stool microscopy
- D) Rapid antigen test
Why Infectious Diseases Deserves Dedicated Revision
Infectious Diseases questions on the DHA exam mix straightforward fact recall (transmission routes, first-line drugs) with pattern-based diagnostic reasoning (matching a lab or serology finding to a diagnosis) — candidates who only revise Family Medicine and Cardiology in depth often lose otherwise-avoidable marks here.
Prepare with HighYield
HighYield's DHA question bank covers Infectious Diseases alongside Family Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology and every other discipline tested in the DHA licensing exam, with every question explained. For the full picture of exam fees and what to budget for, see our DHA Exam Fees guide.