Your body comprises a complicated network of vessels, organs, transportation networks, immune system protectors, bodily fluids, and much more. These important internal parts all need to be protected and maintained, so your body operates at a high level, ensuring you stay free from illness and stay healthy even during common ‘sick’ seasons.
To keep your immune system as high as possible, there are certain ways you can prevent catching sicknesses and illnesses running rampant in your area. Educating yourself about the science of illnesses, disease, and disease prevention can increase the chance of staying healthy, cold-free, and immune sufficient during trying times.
Antigen vs. pathogen: what is a bloodborne pathogen?
To best understand the differences in illnesses and diseases commonly found in your work sector or in your area, you need first to know the difference between an antigen and a pathogen. Being educated about how each of these is spread, the preventative measures for each, and the cure can help you stay healthy and safe!
Pathogen
A pathogen is a specific microbe that causes the host to become sick, with the most common types focused on fungi, protozoa, viruses, and bacteria. Some of the most common pathogens in the world today are hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, all of which can lead to health problems if left untreated.
Healthcare workers and nurses are especially susceptible to contracting pathogens due to their line of work. Since they are continuously exposed to people with diseases, and their immune systems are weakened due to the constant exposure, they may be more at risk of catching bloodborne pathogens.
Fortunately for employees, employers need to train the employees on bloodborne pathogen training, ensuring employees earn the bloodborne pathogen certification that helps them find out how to prevent, treat, and cure disease.
Pathogen treatments
Different treatments and cures for different pathogens come in various shapes, sizes, and characteristics. Pathogens all operate in one way; however – they need to get inside of the body to take effect and harm your insides. So the first step for a pathogen is finding its way inside your body.
Simply put, bacteria need an easy way to get inside, whether it be via airborne methods like your mouth or nose, or bloodborne and bodily fluid ways, like by needle prick or cleaning up blood.
However, all pathogens cannot be fought using antibiotics. These drugs are commonly used to treat infection, but people have a misconception that antibiotics can be used to fight any type of disease – unfortunately, this is not true. However, antibiotics can be effective against specific bacteria, helping get rid of the root cause of the issue. The flip side of antibiotics is their ineffectiveness against fungal and viral infections, like the flu.
Bacteria vs. fungal vs. viral infection
In these cases, antiviral drugs are used. If you continue using antibiotics when the cause is viral, you may be killing off healthy bacteria that actually boost your immune system. The best way to remember what to eat with what medicine is to think of this:
- Bacterial – Antibiotic medication is the main treatment option, with vaccines existing for some bacterial infections in the world. For Example, strep throat and staph infection are often treated with penicillin.
- Fungal infections – Antifungal medication is used to treat fungal infections, with antibiotics not being effective and vaccines seldomly used. The most common type of fungal infection is ringworm from dirty gym equipment or wrestling mats, with the treatment being miconazole.
- Viral infections – Viral infections can be treated using antiviral meds, with antibiotics not effective against viruses. Other viruses have vaccines, like Covid-19, that help get rid of the cause of the disease.
As you can see, just because a disease is considered a pathogen, it doesn’t make it all the same. There are bloodborne pathogens, airborne pathogens, and viral infections that require different treatment from bacteria or fungal infections. Finding out the right cure can help you maintain optimum health and prevent wasting money on useless medication.
Antigen
An antigen is a pathogen that contains a material that is not natural and ‘foreign’ to the body, inciting an immune response to kick out the antigen. The antigen components are engulfed, with the macrophages in your body helping fight against any sicknesses and illnesses that can arise from the antigen.
The T cells in your immune system bind with the antigen cell, helping to increase your immunoprotection, forming B cells, and trying to fight off the impending sickness. When B cells and the T cells bind together, plasma cells are formed, helping to circulate through the bloodstream and bind to the antigens to kill the host.
Antigens and antibodies
- There has been some research in recent months that shows a correlation between antigens and fighting Covid-19. Due to the current global pandemic that has shaken the world, with millions of cases and thousands of deaths, there has been a scramble to find a cure and vaccine to help people get back to normal life.
- Antigens directly relate to Covid-19, with the opposite of an antigen, an antibody, being one of the main focuses of the Void vaccine. An antibody is a protein that helps recognize viruses, like antigens, as direct threats to the immune system. Antibodies then bind to the foreign invader, the antigen, to help get rid of it and drain its energy.
- Antibodies play a crucial role in analyzing, finding, and neutralizing threats and infections in the human body. Antibodies can play a massive part in creating vaccines for future antigens that take the world by storm, like Covid-19.
Conclusion
Although pathogens and antigens seem similar at first glance, their makeup and method of movement in the body are quite different. Pathogens are either airborne or bloodborne, with some of the most common bloodborne pathogens being hepatitis C, hepatitis B, or HIV. Airborne pathogens are less severe, with some of the most common airborne diseases being the common cold and the flu.
Knowing the difference helps employees and regular citizens learn about how to prevent catching and prevent the spread of disease.