Question

What is the difference between carriers and pathogens

Answer 1

Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms while carriers carry these pathogens and therefore are referred as carriers.

Answer 2

PATHOGEN:

• The pathogen in its broadest aspect refers to anything that can cause disease, infectious biological agents or simply germs.
• Pathogens enter the host’s body through specific pathways, adhere to target host cells, invade, colonize, damage, and finally destroy the host cells.
• Most common pathogens include bacteria, virus, fungus, protozoans etc that cause a number of diseases in living organisms and in human beings like tuberculosis, tetanus etc.

CARRIERS:

• Carriers are human beings or other living organisms that harbor and carry disease.
• These can be infectious or genetic in origin. Carriers might not always produce disease but they remain as a potential source of disease.

• Asymptomatic carriers are those where the person or any living organism is a carrier of an infectious disease but without exhibiting symptoms. Eg., Influenza, C. Difficle

• Genetic carriers are persons or living organisms with an inherited recessive gene or allele of a particular genetic trait or mutation but do not exhibit the symptoms or the trait. Eg., Sickle cell anemia, Cystic fibrosis