What characteristics does one have that the other doesn’t? I often see them used interchangeably but I was wondering if there was a notable difference.
In: Biology
Suppose a person contracts a virus. We say that s/he has been infected or has an infection. Now, if s/he also develops symptoms, we say that s/he has the disease. A disease has symptoms that clearly manifest themselves. If a person has a disease, they will show the signs of illness.
But not all infections necessarily manifest symptoms. So, not all infections become “disease”. But the infection is still there, i.e. the person is still infected.
So, when you call it STI, you don’t have to specify if it turned into a disease or not.
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STI is just a more modern term, because STD wasn’t quite as accurate a term as we would have liked. STI is more specific, if that makes sense, because technically the word disease can refer to things like genetic defects or mental/cognitive problems. Infections refer specifically to the passing on (transmission) of a pathogen. Thus, STI is more accurate a term than STD.
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