STD vs. STI: Understanding the Difference
It’s officially #SexualHealthWeek and I’m continuing the conversation around the differences between a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and sexually transmitted infection (STI).
I’ve outlined the same process I discussed yesterday in terms of an STD (on slide 1) and an STI (on slide 2). The examples I use are the human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV).
HPV is a group of over 200 related viruses transmitted through anal, oral, and vaginal sex that fall into either low or high risk categories (NIH). HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active people have HPV, with over half of these infections resulting in a high-risk HPV type. High-risk HPV types *can* cause cancer (it doesn’t mean that they will).
I want to reiterate that an “STD” is the biological description and clinical term for the simplified process outlined here. One of my followers commented yesterday how they find themselves classifying between an HPV infection from an HPV-related disease in their research, and that’s the point I want to drive home.
Infection and disease are not characteristics of their hosts, but rather descriptions of science. As most of us know, these clinical terms can result in a feeling of a loss of humanity and labeling as an “other,” rather than an inclusion.