THE STAGES OF INFECTION

The stages of infection describe what happens once a susceptible host has acquired a pathogen. The stages are: incubation,
prodromal, illness, and convalescence.

Incubation stage
The incubation period of infection is the time from when the pathogen first gets in the body, until it starts to make its
appearance known. During this time, the pathogen is multiplying inside your body. One does not know they are sick at this
time.

Diseases or infections with a long incubation period are concerning because a person might be contagious long before they
know they are sick, and they may not know to take precautions against spreading the illness.

Prodromal stage
The prodromal period of infection is when general, non-specific signs and symptoms of illness appear. These symptoms are
vague, not specific to any one disease.

If you have ever woken up in the morning and thought, "I don't really feel very well. I can't tell you what's wrong. I'm just
tired. I don't feel good. I feel kind of fatigued and weak," that was the prodromal stage at work.

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Illness stage
During the illness phase, infection-specific signs and symptoms appear.

For example, a patient may have a high fever, a cough, and body aches if they are in the illness phase of influenza. If
a patient has gastroenteritis, they might have an upset stomach, cramps, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

If you'd like to learn the key facts about influenza, gastroenteritis, and more infections, diseases and disorders,
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Convalescence stage
Last in the stages of infection is the convalescence stage, which is the recovery from infection. To convalesce means
to get better. During the convalescence stage, symptoms start to disappear until a person is fully healed.

If an illness is something like the common cold, the convalescence stage might be just a few days. If it's a serious or
long-lasting infection, the convalescence stage could take a very long time.