Are you finding yourself lost in a sea of acronyms? Do people around you start talking about STIs and STDs and you’re just sitting there thinking WTF? Great, you think, more letters to remember, just when you’ve mastered LGBTQIA+!
Let’s break it down. STI stands for sexually transmitted infection, and STD stands for sexually transmitted disease.
So what differentiates an STI from an STD? Up until recently they were used interchangeably and assumed to mean the same thing, however, the main difference is that the initial infection can lead to the disease, but not all people who have an STI have an STD. STD is a bit of an old-fashioned term, often with negative connotations, with STI being favoured in modern usage. After all, if somebody had conjunctivitis, you would say they had an infection, not that they were ‘diseased’, the same applies for down below.
Sexually transmitted infections that go untreated for long periods of time can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometritis, pelvic and uterine cancer in women, and urethritis in men. In the long run, many of these conditions can lead to infertility and even death.
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a syndrome which occurs when an HIV infection has existed in the body for a long enough time that the disease-fighting cells in the blood have fallen below a certain point. With early detection and treatment of HIV, it can be prevented from becoming AIDS. The threshold at which HIV becomes AIDS is determined by the viral load, and the CD4 count in blood, as well as detection of AIDS-defining opportunistic infections, which generally occur when the CD4 count drops below 200.
The implications of what these infections can lead to highlights the significance of regular testing. Once detected, they can be treated or managed, for the sake of your own health, and to reduce the chance of passing them on to others. We recommend testing every 3-6 months, depending on your level of sexual activity and number of partners. WAAC endorses specialised health centres across the state that cater to the diversity of our community. Places such as WAAC's M Clinic in West Perth, who specialises in men who have sex with men, and ‘Sexual Health Quarters’ in Northbridge, are some of the many places where you can access STI testing in a safe and non-judgemental environment.
You can find the full list of our endorsed sexual health services here.
Without regular testing, you may not know you have an infection. Sometimes STIs present with discharge, burning when urinating, ulcers, but sometimes they don’t. Give yourself the peace of mind by getting a simple blood and urine test.
References
https://beforeplay.org/the-difference-between-stds-and-stis/
https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/67ca264a-7813-48a4-9aa7-c151e84f56f3/aihw-phe-236_HPV.pdf.aspx
