Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) MCQs With Answer

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) MCQs With Answer provide B. Pharm students a focused, practical way to learn public health surveillance principles essential to pharmacy practice. This short, keyword-rich introduction explains surveillance objectives—early detection, timely reporting, laboratory confirmation, and outbreak response—plus tools such as the IDSP portal, standard case definitions, sentinel surveillance, and rapid response teams. Understanding data flow, reporting formats (Syndromic, Presumptive, Laboratory), and the pharmacist’s role in detection, reporting and ensuring medicine supply strengthens clinical decision-making and public health contribution. These questions emphasize epidemiology, notification procedures, and lab networks to build analytical skills relevant to real-world outbreaks. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. What does IDSP stand for?

• International Disease Safety Programme
• Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP)
• Infectious Disease Study Project
• Immediate Disease Safety Plan

Correct Answer: Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP)

Q2. In which year was the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) launched in India?

• 1995
• 2000
• 2004
• 2010

Correct Answer: 2004

Q3. Which of the following is a primary objective of IDSP?

• Promote only private healthcare services
• Early detection and timely response to disease outbreaks
• Increase sales of antimicrobials
• Limit laboratory testing for infectious diseases

Correct Answer: Early detection and timely response to disease outbreaks

Q4. Which three reporting formats are commonly used in IDSP?

• Syndromic, Presumptive and Laboratory (S, P, L)
• Statistical, Pathological and Legal (S, P, L)
• Sporadic, Periodic and Last-resort (S, P, L)
• Surveillance, Prevention and Logistics (S, P, L)

Correct Answer: Syndromic, Presumptive and Laboratory (S, P, L)

Q5. What is the recommended reporting timeline for epidemic-prone or unusual events under IDSP?

• Report within 7 days
• Report within 48 hours
• Immediate reporting (within 24 hours)
• Report monthly

Correct Answer: Immediate reporting (within 24 hours)

Q6. Routine surveillance data under IDSP are usually reported at what frequency?

• Hourly
• Daily
• Weekly
• Yearly

Correct Answer: Weekly

Q7. Who are the primary data collectors at the peripheral level in IDSP?

• Policy makers only
• Peripheral health workers and health facilities
• Only national laboratory scientists
• International NGOs exclusively

Correct Answer: Peripheral health workers and health facilities

Q8. What is the typical data flow in IDSP from the point of detection?

• National to state to district to facility
• Health facility to district to state to national surveillance unit
• Laboratory to pharmacy to patient
• State to district to global agencies

Correct Answer: Health facility to district to state to national surveillance unit

Q9. Which role is particularly relevant for B. Pharm students within IDSP activities?

• Designing hospital architecture
• Identifying unusual medication-related clusters, reporting suspect cases and supporting outbreak response
• Conducting only sales promotions for medicines
• Replacing epidemiologists in lab work

Correct Answer: Identifying unusual medication-related clusters, reporting suspect cases and supporting outbreak response

Q10. Why are standard case definitions important in IDSP?

• To increase prescription of antibiotics
• To allow uniform detection and comparison of cases across regions
• To limit reporting to tertiary hospitals only
• To delay laboratory confirmation

Correct Answer: To allow uniform detection and comparison of cases across regions

Q11. What is sentinel surveillance?

• Full population screening every week
• Selected reporting sites for in-depth monitoring of specific diseases
• Randomized drug marketing assessment
• Only laboratory-based passive reporting

Correct Answer: Selected reporting sites for in-depth monitoring of specific diseases

Q12. What is the main purpose of a Rapid Response Team (RRT) in IDSP?

• To enforce pharmaceutical sales targets
• To quickly investigate and control outbreaks
• To register new pharmacies
• To write medical textbooks

Correct Answer: To quickly investigate and control outbreaks

Q13. Laboratory confirmation in IDSP is primarily used to:

• Delay public health action
• Confirm the etiological agent and guide specific response
• Promote over-the-counter medication use
• Limit information sharing

Correct Answer: Confirm the etiological agent and guide specific response

Q14. The IDSP web portal is mainly used for:

• Online data entry, reporting and basic analysis
• Purchasing laboratory reagents only
• Pharmacy licensing applications
• Social media communications

Correct Answer: Online data entry, reporting and basic analysis

Q15. IDSP typically focuses surveillance on which category of diseases?

• Only chronic non-communicable diseases
• Epidemic-prone and notifiable infectious diseases
• Only cosmetic conditions
• Only genetic disorders

Correct Answer: Epidemic-prone and notifiable infectious diseases

Q16. In surveillance terms, a ‘threshold’ refers to:

• The number of pharmacists in a district
• The level of disease occurrence that triggers public health action
• Maximum laboratory capacity
• The minimum drug stock in pharmacies

Correct Answer: The level of disease occurrence that triggers public health action

Q17. Which of the following are core functions of IDSP?

• Detection, reporting, analysis and response
• Only drug distribution
• Only hospital construction
• Advertising health products

Correct Answer: Detection, reporting, analysis and response

Q18. Epidemiology in the context of IDSP is primarily used to:

• Study distribution and determinants of health events for control measures
• Replace laboratory testing completely
• Manage hospital billing
• Design drug packaging

Correct Answer: Study distribution and determinants of health events for control measures

Q19. What is typically the first step in a suspected outbreak investigation?

• Mass vaccination without assessment
• Verify the outbreak and confirm the diagnosis
• Publish a research paper immediately
• Close all health facilities

Correct Answer: Verify the outbreak and confirm the diagnosis

Q20. Active surveillance differs from passive surveillance because it:

• Relies solely on routine lab reports
• Involves proactive case finding and outreach by health workers
• Is done only once a year
• Does not require data analysis

Correct Answer: Involves proactive case finding and outreach by health workers

Q21. High sensitivity in a surveillance system means:

• It will miss most cases
• It detects a high proportion of true cases, even if some false positives occur
• It only detects severe cases
• It reduces laboratory workload to zero

Correct Answer: It detects a high proportion of true cases, even if some false positives occur

Q22. In the S, P, L reporting formats used by IDSP, what does ‘S’ stand for?

• Statistical
• Syndromic
• Serological
• Secondary

Correct Answer: Syndromic

Q23. Who typically heads the District Surveillance Unit within IDSP?

• District Surveillance Officer (DSO)
• Chief Pharmacist only
• International liaison officer
• Hospital cashier

Correct Answer: District Surveillance Officer (DSO)

Q24. An effective Rapid Response Team should include which of the following members?

• Only administrative staff
• Clinicians, epidemiologists and laboratory technicians
• Only pharmacists
• Only media personnel

Correct Answer: Clinicians, epidemiologists and laboratory technicians

Q25. Where should laboratory confirmation of suspected IDSP cases ideally be performed?

• Designated public health laboratories in the surveillance network
• Any retail pharmacy counter
• Only overseas private labs
• Only at patient homes

Correct Answer: Designated public health laboratories in the surveillance network

Q26. An early warning signal in IDSP might include:

• A sudden unexplained rise in cases of a specific syndrome in a locality
• Regular monthly staff meetings
• Routine stock reorder of medicines
• Annual public health awards

Correct Answer: A sudden unexplained rise in cases of a specific syndrome in a locality

Q27. Which of the following is NOT a main component of IDSP?

• Surveillance and data analysis
• Laboratory support and network
• Training and capacity building
• Pharmaceutical marketing promotion

Correct Answer: Pharmaceutical marketing promotion

Q28. Who is expected to report immediately to the surveillance system when a notifiable case is detected?

• Only public health administrators
• All healthcare providers including private practitioners
• Only international agencies
• Only pharmacists employed in government hospitals

Correct Answer: All healthcare providers including private practitioners

Q29. Basic data analysis in IDSP helps primarily to:

• Identify trends, clusters and guide targeted public health action
• Increase hospital bills
• Eliminate the need for laboratory tests
• Stop all community engagement

Correct Answer: Identify trends, clusters and guide targeted public health action

Q30. A successful IDSP leads to which public health outcome?

• Increased morbidity and mortality
• Reduced morbidity and mortality through prompt detection and response
• Only improved hospital cafeteria services
• Delay in outbreak detection

Correct Answer: Reduced morbidity and mortality through prompt detection and response

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