Which of the following diseases can be inherited?

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks which disease can be inherited. That means the disease is passed from parents to offspring through genes (genetic material), not caught from the environment.

Step 2: Explain the concept

• Inherited (genetic) diseases are caused by faulty genes or chromosomes passed down from parents. Examples: sickle cell anaemia, haemophilia, albinism, colour blindness.
• Infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, etc.) and are acquired, not inherited.
• Deficiency diseases are caused by a lack of a nutrient in the diet.

Step 3: Evaluate each option

• A. Pneumonia: Caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi infecting the lungs. It is infectious, not inherited.
• B. AIDS: Caused by HIV, a virus. It is transmitted through body fluids (and can pass from mother to child during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding), but this is transmission of an infection, not genetic inheritance.
• C. Sickle cell anaemia: Caused by a mutation in the gene for haemoglobin (HbS). A child gets the disease by inheriting two HbS alleles, one from each parent (genotype HbSS). This is a true inherited disease.
• D. Goitre: Usually caused by iodine deficiency, so it is a deficiency disease, not inherited.

Step 4: Answer The correct answer is **C.

Tip: For "inherited disease" questions, think of genetic conditions: sickle cell, haemophilia, albinism, colour blindness. Pneumonia and AIDS are caused by pathogens, and goitre is caused by a lack of iodine. In Nigeria, sickle cell is a common example, and the genotype pairs AA, AS, SS often come up in WASSCE, JAMB and NECO, so learn how they combine (for example, AS × AS can produce an SS child).