The National Cancer Institute defines STIs (sexually transmitted infections) as ‘diseases caused by infection with certain bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms that can be passed from one person to another through blood, semen, vaginal fluids or other body fluids, during oral, anal or genital sex with an infected partner. These diseases can also be spread through sharing needles, blood transfusions, breastfeeding or from an infected mother to an infant during pregnancy and childbirth’.