system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Does quantity of viruses/bacterias on initial infection even matter since they will replicate anyway?

Simply: is there any difference between being infected by 1 specimen and 1000 specimens of HIV virus for example?
gpt
Yes, there is a difference. Infection is not a yes/no question, there is a certain probability that any given virus or bacterium will infect a cell. One pathogen is likely to be cleared by the immune system, while with 1000 some have a chance of overcoming the innate immune system. (Those numbers are made up just for explanation and differ from pathogen to pathogen). This of course also continues in the replication stage because if one cell is infected it is likely cleared while if 1000 cells at once are infected the immune system might not be fast enough to clear them out before they can release replicated pathogens.