Expanding the concept of sexually transmitted infections: towards a more inclusive framework

Sexually transmissible infections in scientific literature have been called venereal diseases from the 19th century to the mid-20th century, with a focus primarily on syphilis and gonorrhoea, which was narrow and carried stigma, to sexually transmitted diseases by the mid-1970s as more infections were recognised and later to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the 1990s to include cases without symptoms and use clearer, less stigmatising language.1