| ANTIBODIES |
proteins made by the immune
system to combat a disease. In laboratory tests it shows that you
have/ had the disease. |
| AUTO-INNOCULATION |
infecting yourself.
An example is touching a cold sore on your mouth and then touching your
genital area before washing. You can infect the genital area with
the herpes virus. |
| BACTERIA |
small organisms that can
cause a disease or infection. They do not live inside the cells as
viruses do. |
| BODY
FLUIDS |
all fluids from your body
including blood, saliva, semen, vaginal discharge, etc. |
| COMPLICATIONS |
things that can happen
BECAUSE a disease or infection has not been treated or treated properly.
Complications can also happen because the disease or infection causes symptoms
that result in a reaction from you. That reaction causes the complications.
An example would be scratching the shin very hard because of itching from
lice that you break the skin and it becomes infected with another disease
(called an Opportunistic infection). |
| DISCHARGE |
liquid that is expelled
from the body openings, such as the vagina, penis, mouth, anus. |
| INCUBATION
PERIOD |
the period of time it takes
between when you first contact a virus or bacteria
and when you first start showing physical signs or symptoms
of the disease. |
| INFECTION |
when an organism (such
as bacteria or virus) gets into your body and damages it in some way. |
| INSERTIVE |
opposite of receptive;
i.e. one person, the insertive partner, INSERTS or puts their penis into
another person. |
INTIMATE
SKIN
CONTACT |
when the skin of one person's
mouth or genitals touches the skin of another person's genitals or mouth.
Examples are oral sex, intercourse. |
| LATENT
PERIOD |
similar to, but not the
same as, an incubation period. When a virus, bacteria, or other organism
is in your body and you don't have any symptoms. Latent periods can
be short or long. It may also be called the remission time for a
disease. |
OPPORTUNISTIC
INFECTION |
results when the symptoms
of one infection causes the immune system to become weak and not be able
to fight other types of infection or diseases. |
| ORAL |
involving the mouth |
| ORGANISM |
the factor that is the
cause of infection or a disease. An example is a virus or bacteria. |
| PETTING |
fondling or touching someone's
genitals or anus with your hands or mouth. It is a way of transmitting
certain diseases. A form of secondary contact. |
| RECEPTIVE |
the opposite of insertive;
i.e. the receptive partner, has someone's penis put INTO them |
| REMISSION |
The time when a disease
is not active after the first time you have symptoms. There are no
physical symptoms that you have the disease. It is almost a resting
state for the disease. It is an indefinite period of time. |
| SECONDARY
CONTACT |
indirect contact. An example
is touching a cold sore on you mouth and then touching your partners genitalia. |
| STD |
abbreviation for Sexually
Transmitted Disease |
| SYMPTOMS |
physical signs of a disease
such as cough, shortness of breath, discharge, blisters, pain, etc. |
| TEST |
a laboratory or other procedure
will shows whether a disease or infection is present or has been present
in the body. A WINDOW PERIOD may be needed
before a valid result is obtainable. |
| TRANSMISSION |
how a virus or bacteria
goes from one person to the next, for example by oral receptive sex or
by insertive vaginal sex. |
| TREATMENT |
The way a disease, infection,
or condition is taken care of with medications, therapy, etc. |
| VACCINE |
an injection (shot) or
pill that protects the body against a virus or bacteria. Vaccines add to
the immune system to fight a specific disease or infection. |
| VIRUS |
a tiny germ that lives
inside your body's cells and kills them. Some viruses can become latent. |
| WINDOW
PERIOD |
the amount of time since
infection before a test will show a valid or true result. |
