Eli5 if disease’s want to live in a host’s body without being discovered, then why do they have such nasty symptoms that can be used to easily identify and destroy them?

Question

Eli5 if disease’s want to live in a host’s body without being discovered, then why do they have such nasty symptoms that can be used to easily identify and destroy them?

In: 106

Answer 1

The second part of your question is kind of muddled up, as others have explained.

But at a more basic level, if a microorganism doesn’t create nasty symptoms, then it’s not a disease.

Countless harmless or beneficial microorganisms do just fine by living inside or on the skin of humans and spreading through casual contact.