Editing Asymptomatic carrier (section)

{{short description|Organism which has become infected with a pathogen but displays no symptoms}}
[[File:Mallon-Mary 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Mary Mallon|Typhoid Mary]] in a 1909 newspaper illustration. Mary Mallon was an asymptomatic carrier of ''[[Salmonella typhi]]'' who is thought to have infected 53 others with [[typhoid fever]] while continuing her work as a cook.]]

An '''asymptomatic carrier''' is a person or other [[organism]] that has become [[infection|infected]] with a [[pathogen]], but shows no signs or [[symptom]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dictionary Definition|url=http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/asymptomatic+carrier|website=Medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com|access-date=20 August 2013}}</ref>

Although unaffected by the pathogen, carriers can transmit it to others or develop symptoms in later stages of the disease. Asymptomatic carriers play a critical role in the transmission of common infectious diseases such as [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]], [[HIV/AIDS|HIV]], ''[[Clostridioides difficile infection|C. difficile]]'', influenzas, [[cholera]], tuberculosis, and [[COVID-19]],<ref name=asymptomatic_carrier>{{Cite journal|
doi = 10.1016/j.jmii.2020.02.012|
issn = 1684-1182|
last1 = Lai|
first1 = Chih-Cheng|
last2 = Liu|
first2 = Yen Hung|
last3 = Wang|
first3 = Cheng-Yi|
last4 = Wang|
first4 = Ya-Hui|
last5 = Hsueh|
first5 = Shun-Chung|
last6 = Yen|
first6 = Muh-Yen|
last7 = Ko|
first7 = Wen-Chien|
last8 = Hsueh|
first8 = Po-Ren|
title = Asymptomatic carrier state, acute respiratory disease, and pneumonia due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): Facts and myths|
journal = Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection|
date = 2020-03-04|
volume = 53|
issue = 3|
pages = 404–412|
pmid = 32173241|
pmc = 7128959|
doi-access = free}}</ref> although the latter is often associated with "robust [[Cell-mediated immunity|T-cell immunity]]" in more than a quarter of patients studied.<ref name="sekine20">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.08.017|doi-access=free|title=Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19|year=2020|last1=Sekine|first1=Takuya|last2=Perez-Potti|first2=André|last3=Rivera-Ballesteros|first3=Olga|last4=Strålin|first4=Kristoffer|last5=Gorin|first5=Jean-Baptiste|last6=Olsson|first6=Annika|last7=Llewellyn-Lacey|first7=Sian|last8=Kamal|first8=Habiba|last9=Bogdanovic|first9=Gordana|last10=Muschiol|first10=Sandra|last11=Wullimann|first11=David J.|last12=Kammann|first12=Tobias|last13=Emgård|first13=Johanna|last14=Parrot|first14=Tiphaine|last15=Folkesson|first15=Elin|last16=Rooyackers|first16=Olav|last17=Eriksson|first17=Lars I.|last18=Henter|first18=Jan-Inge|last19=Sönnerborg|first19=Anders|last20=Allander|first20=Tobias|last21=Albert|first21=Jan|last22=Nielsen|first22=Morten|last23=Klingström|first23=Jonas|last24=Gredmark-Russ|first24=Sara|last25=Björkström|first25=Niklas K.|last26=Sandberg|first26=Johan K.|last27=Price|first27=David A.|last28=Ljunggren|first28=Hans-Gustaf|last29=Aleman|first29=Soo|last30=Buggert|first30=Marcus|journal=Cell|volume=183|issue=1|pages=158–168.e14|pmid=32979941|pmc=7427556}}</ref> While the mechanism of disease-carrying is still unknown, researchers have made progress towards understanding how certain pathogens can remain dormant in a human for a period of time.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.wikigenes.org/e/author/e/276076.html|title=Denise M. Monack|publisher=WikiGenes|access-date=2016-02-14}}</ref> A better understanding of asymptomatic disease carriers is crucial to the fields of medicine and public health as they work towards mitigating the spread of common infectious diseases.