Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundstar
Their synonym for healthy = asymptomatic super-spreader.
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Nope, boy they don't teach basic biology or epidemiology anymore. Here is the thing if I inject you with some pathogen(like COVID,HIV, HEPB or even just the common cold) there are many possibilities.
1.You don't get it for some reason(too low a dose, immunity ect..).
2. You do get it. However there is a process in how people get ill.
The time between when you were exposed(injected) and when(and if) you develop symptoms is called the incubation period. For COVID on average it is 5 days but it can be up to 14 days after exposure.
If we just go by symptoms you will feel fine but you may be contagious. For COVID most people become contagious 2-3 days after exposure and are most contagious 1-2 days before developing symptoms. This is called presymptomatic. A COVID test may come back as positive during this time period but you will feel just fine.
With some disease someone can be infected and never develop symptoms. Does not mean that they can't pass it on. This is called Asymptomatic. It does not mean healthy. The illness can be doing damage but you just don't feel sick. i.e. That cholesterol clog in your heart that caused blockage and a fatal heart attack didn't develop just yesterday and infections just don't cause people to react the same way.
An Asymptomatic person can spread illness the most famous one was Typhoid Mary. She was a hard working, Irish gal with an peach ice cream recipe that was quite literally to die for. She was a cook who unfortunately was a carrier of Typhoid. She is linked to 53 cases of the illness and three of them died!
The reason why you don't feel sick is because many of the symptoms of illness have to do with the bodies reaction to illness and not the damage that the illness cause. Fever, coughing, inflammation, diarrhea and vomiting are all reactions of the body to something but if the body does not react you won't have those symptoms. When the body decides to attack the infection Fever, Cough, inflammation, diarrhea and vomiting are tools at it's disposal to help get rid of the infection and not the wrath of the infection.
In addition not everyone will get extremely sick from something some people just get mildly ill but just because they are mildly ill doesn't mean someone else won't get very ill or that they themselves won't become very ill in the future.
Anyway from a public health standpoint people that are asymptomatic, presymptomatic and mildly ill are dangerous because they are not ill enough to stay away from others. I mean would you NOT go to the bar or to work or anywhere if you are feeling just fine or you think it is an little sniffle? People that are extremely sick may be more contagious but they are less up and about and less able to spread infection to people other than caregivers.
Likewise an Asymtomatic infant could:
1. Give the infection to others like grandma who decided to babysit cause mom is hospitalized with COVID
2. We don't know what the infection could do. Some people get long term damage and never developed symptoms.
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