Question

In the workplace, influenza is typically spread by infected individuals to others with whom they work in close quarters. A new medication that suppresses the symptoms of influenza therefore will actually increase the number of influenza cases, because this medication will allow people who would otherwise be home in bed to return to work while infected.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously challenges the prediction?

• A. Coughing, a symptom of influenza that the new medication suppresses, is a primary mechanism in the spread of this illness.
• B. Some medications that are used to suppress symptoms of influenza are also used by many people to treat symptoms that are caused not by influenza but by other illnesses.
• C. Many workers who now remain at home when infected with influenza do so because the symptoms of influenza prevent them from performing their jobs effectively.
• D. Most adults who are immunized against influenza in order to avoid being infected are over 65 years old and retired and thus do not work outside the home.
• E. Symptoms of an illness are often the body's means of curing itself of the illness, and therefore suppression of symptoms can prolong the illness that causes them.

Hint:

When evaluating a causal chain, look for assumptions made at each link. The argument here assumes that a person's level of contagiousness remains high even when symptoms are suppressed. The correct answer attacks this hidden assumption.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This is a "challenge the argument" or "weaken" question. The argument predicts that a symptom-suppressing flu medication will lead to more flu cases. We need to find a statement that makes this prediction less likely.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The argument's logic is: Symptom suppression \(\rightarrow\) Infected people go to work \(\rightarrow\) More people get exposed and infected.
To challenge this, we need to find a flaw in the chain. The argument assumes that the infected people who go to work will be just as contagious as they would have been otherwise. What if the medication, in suppressing symptoms, also suppresses the primary way the disease is transmitted?
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
- (A) This statement directly attacks the assumption of contagiousness. If coughing is a primary way the flu spreads, and the medication stops people from coughing, then even if infected people go to work, they will be less contagious. This could lead to fewer new cases, not more, directly challenging the prediction.
- (B) Use of the medication for other illnesses is irrelevant to its effect on the spread of influenza.
- (C) This strengthens the argument. It confirms that suppressing symptoms would indeed cause sick workers to return to the office, which is a key premise of the prediction.
- (D) Immunization of a non-working population is irrelevant to the spread of flu in the workplace.
- (E) Prolonging the illness might mean the person is contagious for a longer period, which could potentially strengthen the prediction that more cases will occur over time. It does not challenge the prediction.
Step 4: Final Answer:
If the medication eliminates the main method of transmission (coughing), then its net effect could be to reduce the spread of influenza, which is the opposite of what the argument predicts.