STIs are sexually transmitted infections. STDs are sexually transmitted diseases.
An STI is only considered a disease when it causes symptoms. That’s it. That’s the one difference.
Why the switch after years of referring to all sexually transmitted ailments as STDs? To improve
accuracy and stigma.
STI is more accurate for most cases. Also, STD is an acronym that causes some people to shudder
thanks to years of subpar sex ed and bad after-school specials.
Infection vs. disease
Think of an infection as the first step on the road to disease. Infections haven’t yet turned into disease
and often don’t cause any symptoms.
This is actually why many experts are pushing to use STI over STD, and believe “STD” is misleading.
“Disease” suggests that a person has a medical problem with obvious signs and symptoms. That’s
often not the case at all since the most common STIs — like chlamydia and gonorrhea — are often
asymptomatic.
All STDs start as STIs
Not all diseases start as infections, but when it comes to sexually transmitted ones, they do.
Infections occur when pathogens like viruses, bacteria, or parasites enter your body and start to
multiply. How they get into your body depends on the type of pathogen.
Some get in through skin-to-skin contact with a person who has an infection; others are transmitted
through an exchange of bodily fluids, like semen, vaginal secretions, or blood.
Infection progresses to disease when these pathogens cause damage to your cells, and signs and
symptoms appear.
But not all STIs develop into STDs
Some STIs never develop into STDs. Take HPV, for example.
HPV usuallyTrusted Source clears up on its own without causing any health problems. In these cases,
HPV is an STI.
If the infection doesn’t clear on its own, it can cause genital warts or certain cancers. This then makes
it a disease.
Symptoms to watch for
Symptoms can take days, weeks, or even years to appear, if they do at all, which is why testing is
important. (More on that in a sec.)
That said, anyone who’s sexually active should know what symptoms to watch out for.
Keep in mind that symptoms vary between STDs and can affect different parts of your body,
depending on the type of sexual activity you’ve had.
For the record, this goes for any types of sexual activity, including vaginal and anal sex, oral (rimming,
too!), hand jobs/hand sex, dry humping, etc., etc., etc.
Here’s what to look out for:
bumps, sores, or rashes in or around the genitals, anus, buttocks, or thighs
changes in the amount of, color, or smell of vaginal discharge
penile discharge
unusual vaginal bleeding or spotting between periods or after sex
painful or burning urination
pain during vaginal or anal penetration
pelvic pain
painful or swollen testicles
tingling or itching around the genitals
swollen and painful lymph nodes, especially in the groin and neck
genital or anal rash
rectal bleeding
When to get tested
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source recommends yearly screening for
all sexually active adults, but a good general rule of thumb is to get tested if you:
have had sex without a barrier method, like a condom
have had or are planning to have sex with a new partner
have multiple sexual partners
are worried you may have been exposed to an STI
are pregnant
share injection drug equipment
But don’t jump straight from the sack to the screening clinic, because getting tested too soon won’t
tell you whether you were exposed to an STI from your most recent sexual encounter.
STIs have an incubation period. That’s the time between when you contract the infection and your
body recognizes and produces antibodies to it.
The presence of these antibodies — or lack thereof — is what gives you the result.
Incubation periods vary between infections, from a few days for chlamydia and gonorrhea to months or
years for HPV and syphilis.
That said, if you have reason to believe you’ve been exposed to an STI, talk to a healthcare provider
for advice as soon as possible.
Depending on your situation, they can advise you on the next steps, like when to get tested or about
preventive measures, such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) if you may have been exposed to HIV.
More than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired every day worldwide, the majority of which are
asymptomatic.
Each year there are an estimated 374 million new infections with 1 of 4 curable STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis
and trichomoniasis.
More than 500 million people 15–49 years are estimated to have a genital infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV or
herpes) (1).
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with over 311 000 cervical cancer deaths each year (2).
Almost 1 million pregnant women were estimated to be infected with syphilis in 2016, resulting in over 350 000 adverse
birth outcomes (3).
STIs have a direct impact on sexual and reproductive health through stigmatization, infertility, cancers and pregnancy
complications and can increase the risk of HIV.
Drug resistance is a major threat to reducing the burden of STIs worldwide.
STDs are preventable. If you have sex, know how to protect yourself and your sex partner(s) from STDs.
