Disease vs. Infection?

Claude Gloden: Nothing really, infections (STI) was implemented to help lessen the stigma of having a disease. People don't typically die from an std or sti. The only one that can be life threatening is HIV.Thee are diseases and infections out there besides stds / stis that can kill you.

German Thal: Very little. They are overlapping terms. A disease is something that makes you sick. The common cold is a disease, so is Heart Disease. An infection is some microbe that enters your body and reproduces. The common cold is both an infection and a disease. Heart disease is a disease, but NOT an infection. One can be infected with some microbes without getting a disease from it. (eg Cyklomegalovirus, E. Coli). There is really no good reason to switch from using the term STD to STI. In practice the terms are used interchangeably, and I feel this switch confused a lot of people. When a term develops a "stigma" people often seem to try to replace it with another! term. (Although it did not help in this case.) People can die of a disease (Heart Disease) or an infection (HIV, ebola, MRSA). If a virus gets in your body, that would be called an infection. It may or may not cause a disease. Viruses are one of several form of organisms that can cause infections or STDs. Most infections are caused by either viruses or bacteria. HIV, Hepatitis B, genital warts (aka HPV) and Herpes are caused by viruses. On the other hand, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are infections caused by bacteria....Show more