What term describes a person who harbors a disease-causing organism without showing symptoms but can transmit it to others?

• A. Sepsis
• B. Colonization
• C. Infection
• D. Septicemia

Answer: (B)

The concept being tested is colonization: a person can carry a disease-causing organism without showing symptoms yet still transmit it to others. This differs from infection, where the organism not only is present but invades tissues and causes signs of disease. Sepsis and septicemia involve a systemic reaction to infection, with symptoms such as fever, rapid heart rate, and potential organ dysfunction (sepsis) or the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream causing illness (septicemia). In colonization, there are no symptoms or tissue damage from the microbe, but the organism can still spread, for example a healthy person carrying bacteria in the nose or on the skin and potentially passing them to others.