What is the difference between Infection and Inflammation?

When you say infection, you are referring to the invasion and the multiplication of various pathogens that may have entered the body in different ways. There are some people who acquire infections by inhaling them.

Some are able to acquire infections because of touching surfaces that are already infected. When you say inflammation, this is the type of process wherein the cells of the body are trying to clot some of the muscles so that the infection will not continue spreading throughout the body.

Infection is a contagion of the body tissues with vectors of diseases, their procreation and regeneration in the body, and the response of the host’s immune system to the infectious agents and the toxins produced by them. While inflammation is the protective response of the host’s body to the harmful stimulus which aims at removing the irritant and halting its transmission and then commence the healing process of the issues that have been affected. Infections are basically caused by microorganisms which include bacteria and viruses. Inflammation on the other hand is caused by cells which have been damaged or pathogens which includes virus, fungi, toxins, allergens, foreign body, radiation, and so on. An infection has a wide range of symptoms depending on the nature of the infection. In other words, each infection comes with its distinct symptoms indicating the kind of infection it is, while symptoms of inflammation may include fever, pain, etc.

When you say “infection,” you are referring to the invasion of a pathogen in the body that will tend to multiply until a certain part of the body becomes infected. Inflammation is going to be the response that the body will have in order to fight off the infection. For example, have you ever wondered why your tonsils get inflamed when you have tonsilitis? Your body is currently fighting a throat infection and its natural response in order to fight it off is to have inflamed tonsils. This can be very uncomfortable though. Inflammation in various parts of the body is often checked. This will help medical practitioners know what may possibly be causing the issue.

Some people can become confused between infection and inflammation mainly because they assume that these are the same. When you say infection, this means that there is an invasion of some foreign objects in the body that is causing the body to become weaker than usual. When you say inflammation, this is usually the response of the body to the infection that is trying to take over the body. Inflammation can show where the problem currently is so that it can easily be checked and diagnosed. Take note that inflammation can be a complicated process because there are a lot of cells that are involved. There are immune cells that are going to do their job.

Infection refers to the uncontrolled growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, in a host. When there is an infection, it usually causes certain diseases. However, the human body, in a bid to fight the infection, causes the immune system of the body to be triggered. Inflammation, on the other hand, is due to the reaction of the body tissues towards certain harmful stimuli. This causes the congestion of the blood vessels. Unlike infections that are caused by harmful microorganisms, inflammation is also caused by pathogens but has other causes such as toxins, irritants, chemicals, damaged cells, burning, allergens, radiation, injury, etc.

Although, the various symptoms of infection largely depend on the microorganism that is causing it; however, some of these symptoms are weight loss, fatigue, fever and chills, pain, diarrhea, cough, runny nose, etc. In contrast, the various symptoms of inflammation are pain, swollen and redness of the affected area, fever, etc.