why your germs doesnt affect you while other people’s gems does such as if you share a toothbrush

Question

why your germs doesnt affect you while other people’s gems does such as if you share a toothbrush

In: 0

Answer 1

You have an amazing immune system that learns how to fight different kinds of germs (specifically, your *acquired* immune system). If you’re healthy, it doesn’t mean you have 0 germs, it means your immune system is smacking down the germs before they become a problem and require a heavier immune response like a fever.

But just because *your* immune system learned how to contain germ X it doesn’t mean your friends did and visa-versa. So the germ may be able to spread quickly in their body at which point their immune system kicks up a more aggressive response and they get sick.

[https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/the-immune-system](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/the-immune-system)

EDIT: There’s an interesting parallel to ecology. Rabbits in Eurasia are well contained by a an ecology that has evolved to handle them. That ecology with it’s predators and diseases is like your immune system. Rabbits are there all the time and they don’t bother you. But Australia is like your friend, it doesn’t have an ecology that is adapted to rabbits because rabbits have not been there before. If rabbits get introduced to Australia, it’s [a problem.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia#Effects_on_Australia’s_ecology)