NEET Reproductive Health Previous Year Questions with Solutions

Infections or diseases that are transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively termed Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) or Venereal Diseases (VD).

• • Options (1), (3), and (4) are all standard canonical STIs.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It primarily attacks the pulmonary parenchyma and is transmitted through aerosols and airborne droplet nuclei released during coughing, sneezing, or spitting by an infected person.

• • It is not categorized as an STI.

Among the listed options, Tuberculosis is not a sexually transmitted disease.

• • Matches official NTA final answer key Option B / (2).

When infertility cannot be corrected through clinical or surgical management, couples can be assisted to have children through specialized laboratory procedures designated as Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).

• • Each technique is tailored to specific physiological causes of subfertility.

Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is an in vitro fertilization variant where a single selected spermatozoon is held with a micropipette and directly microinjected into the cytoplasm of an unfertilized ovum. It is primarily indicated in severe male-factor infertility (oligospermia, asthenospermia, or azoospermia with testicular sperm extraction).

• • NCERT verbatim: "Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is another specialised procedure to form an embryo in the laboratory in which a sperm is directly injected into the ovum."

GIFT involves transferring an ovum collected from a donor into the fallopian tube of a recipient female. ZIFT involves transferring an in-vitro formed zygote or early embryo (up to 8 blastomeres) into the fallopian tube. ET is the broader term for transferring embryos into the fallopian tube or uterus. None of these describe the micromanipulation of injecting sperm into the egg.

• • Matches official NTA final answer key Option C / (3).

Examine common misconceptions regarding in vitro fertilization:

• • A is false: IVF is a routine clinical procedure and does not carry a high fatality risk for the mother.
• • C is false: Heterologous ART utilizes donor sperm or donor ova when either partner produces non-viable gametes.
• • E is false: India possesses numerous world-class IVF and ART clinics.

Review the canonical clinical and socio-ethical limitations highlighted in NCERT:

• • B (Expensive instruments and reagents): Requires extremely high precision, specialized handling, and expensive instrumentation; thus available only to a limited number of people.
• • D (Less adoption of orphans): NCERT explicitly emphasizes that in India, thousands of orphaned and destitute children need care, and adoption is legally available, but obsession with ART reduces adoption rates.
• • F (Early embryo non-survival): In vitro culture and blastocyst transfer have finite success rates, with a significant probability that the transferred embryo fails to implant or survive.

Statements B, D, and F represent the authentic potential drawbacks:

• • Matches Option (1) perfectly.

Natural methods work on the principle of avoiding chances of ovum and sperms meeting. They include: 1. Periodic abstinence (avoiding coitus from day 10 to 17 of menstrual cycle). 2. Coitus interruptus (withdrawal of penis from vagina before ejaculation). 3. Lactational amenorrhea (absence of menstruation during intense lactation).

In barrier methods, ovum and sperms are prevented from physically meeting with the help of barriers. Diaphragms, cervical caps and vaults are barriers made of rubber that are inserted into the female reproductive tract to cover the cervix during coitus. They are reusable.

Vaults is a physical barrier method, not a natural method.

IUDs are classified into three distinct functional categories: 1. Non-medicated IUDs: e.g., Lippes loop (A -> III). 2. Copper releasing IUDs: e.g., CuT, Cu7, Multiload 375 (B -> I). 3. Hormone releasing IUDs: e.g., Progestasert, LNG-20 (C -> IV).

Progestogens alone or in combination with estrogen can also be used by females as injections or implants under the skin (D -> II). Their mode of action is similar to that of pills and their effective periods are much longer.

A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II matches Option (2).

Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes aim at creating awareness regarding reproduction-related aspects and providing facilities and support for building a reproductively healthy society. Prenatal sex determination is a criminal abuse of medical diagnostic technology and is strictly prohibited by law, never an RCH objective:

Amniocentesis was developed to detect chromosomal abnormalities (e.g., Down's syndrome) and metabolic disorders in the fetus. Because it was misused to abort female fetuses, a statutory ban was imposed to curb female foeticide:

NCERT states verbatim: "Statutory ban on amniocentesis for sex-determination to legally check increasing menace of female foeticides, massive child-immunisation, etc., are some programmes that merit mention in this connection."

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are grouped clinically into curable and incurable categories:

NCERT states verbatim: "Except for hepatitis-B, genital herpes and HIV infections, other diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated properly."

Gonorrhoea is caused by the Gram-negative diplococcus bacterium $\textit{Neisseria gonorrhoeae}$. Unlike viral integrations (HIV) or latent neural ganglia infections (Herpes), bacterial proliferation responds completely to antimicrobial therapy (e.g., ceftriaxone) if instituted before pelvic complications develop.

Birth control methods are categorized based on their mechanism of preventing conception:

NCERT states under Population Explosion and Birth Control: - "Natural methods: Periodic abstinence, coitus interruptus and lactational amenorrhea." - "Barrier methods: Condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps and vaults." - "Oral administration of small doses... Saheli - the new oral contraceptive for the females." - "Surgical methods, also called sterilization... Vasectomy in male and tubectomy in female."

Pairing A-III, B-IV, C-II, D-I matches Option (3) uniquely.

Contraceptive modalities prevent unwanted conception through distinct physiological and anatomical interventions: - (a) Vaults: Barrier contraceptives made of rubber inserted into the female reproductive tract to cover the cervix before coitus; they mechanically block sperm entry through the cervix. - (b) Intrauterine Devices (IUDs): Foreign bodies (non-medicated, copper-releasing, or hormone-releasing) that trigger a localized sterile inflammatory response, significantly increasing the phagocytosis of sperms within the uterine cavity. - (c) Vasectomy: Male sterilization surgical procedure wherein a small piece of each vas deferens is resected or ligated through a small incision on the scrotum to block sperm transport. - (d) Tubectomy: Female sterilization surgical procedure wherein a small part of each fallopian tube (oviduct) is removed or tied up through an incision in the abdomen or vagina to prevent ovum transport.

Mapping the pairs: - (a) $\rightarrow$ (i) - (b) $\rightarrow$ (iii) - (c) $\rightarrow$ (ii) - (d) $\rightarrow$ (iv) This uniquely aligns with Option (2).

Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) are inserted by doctors into the uterus through the vagina. NCERT divides them into three precise categories: 1. Non-medicated IUDs: Lippes loop 2. Copper-releasing IUDs: CuT, Cu7, Multiload 375 (release copper ions that suppress sperm motility and fertilising capacity) 3. Hormone-releasing IUDs: Progestasert, LNG-20 (make the uterus unsuitable for implantation and the cervix hostile to sperms)

LNG-20 contains levonorgestrel (a synthetic progestin) in a reservoir that releases 20 micrograms of hormone daily. It acts locally on the endometrium to prevent decidualization and creates thick cervical mucus, rendering the uterus unreceptive to blastocyst implantation.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) or Venereal Diseases (VDs) / Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs) are infections transmitted predominantly through sexual intercourse. However, several systemic STIs (notably Hepatitis B virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV) share additional parenteral and vertical routes: - (b) Transfusion of contaminated blood: Direct intravenous inoculation of blood or blood products from an infected donor transmits pathogens. - (c) Transplacental / Vertical transmission: Pathogens can cross the placenta from an infected mother to the developing foetus (e.g. *Treponema pallidum* causing congenital syphilis; HIV causing pediatric AIDS; Hepatitis B during parturition).

- (a) Using sterile needles: Sterile needles are single-use, pathogen-free instruments that prevent microbial transmission; unsterile / shared needles transmit infections. - (d) Kissing: Casual contact and saliva exchange through social kissing do not transmit classic venereal diseases or HIV/Hepatitis B. - (e) Inheritance: STIs are communicable infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, or protozoa, not heritable genetic traits passed down via gametic DNA chromosomes.

When natural conception is blocked, in vitro fertilization (IVF) followed by Embryo Transfer (ET) is employed: - ZIFT (Zygote Intra-Fallopian Transfer): The zygote or early cleaving embryo containing up to 8 blastomeres is transferred directly into the ampullary-isthmic region of the Fallopian tube. - IUT (Intra-Uterine Transfer): Embryos cultured past 8 blastomeres (e.g. morula or early blastocyst stage) are transferred directly into the uterine cavity for implantation. - Both ZIFT and IUT are bona fide embryo transfer techniques designed to assist females unable to conceive naturally.

- GIFT (Gamete Intra-Fallopian Transfer): Transfer of an unfertilized ovum (gamete) collected from a donor into the fallopian tube of another female who cannot produce one, but can provide a suitable environment for fertilization. - ICSI (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection): A laboratory micro-injection technique where a single sperm is injected directly into the cytoplasm of an ovum to achieve fertilization, not an embryo transfer protocol.

Diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively called sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), venereal diseases (VD), or reproductive tract infections (RTI).

Gonorrhoea (bacterial, Neisseria gonorrhoeae), Syphilis (bacterial, Treponema pallidum), and Genital herpes (viral, Herpes simplex virus) are all classic, well-documented STDs transmitted via sexual contact.

Both contain Malaria (caused by Plasmodium, transmitted by female Anopheles mosquito bite) and Option (3) contains Filaria (caused by Wuchereria, transmitted by female Culex mosquito). Neither is an STD.

Contains Cancer, which is non-infectious uncontrollable mitotic cell division resulting from oncogenic transformation, not an STD.