MenB vaccine does not protect men from gonorrhea, study says

The UK Health Protection Agency says it is not making any changes at the moment.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of UK Public Health Programs at UKHSA, said: “It is important to consider the range of evidence.

“More than 30,000 people in the UK have started this course of vaccination, and this provides more robust data on the impact and effectiveness of the vaccine. These findings will be published over time.”

Gonorrhea cases are at a higher rate compared to 10-years ago.

In England, they peaked at 82,592 in 2022. Since then, the number has fallen to 63,943 in 2025, but is still double the number in 2015.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, men who have sex with men are the most disproportionately affected group.

Dr Odile Harrison, associate professor in the department of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Oxford, said the results were “disappointing” but should not be seen as the end of the search for a vaccine.

“Gonorrhea continues to be a major global public health threat, particularly as antibiotic resistance continues to emerge, and an effective vaccine remains a major concern,” she said.

Taku Mukiwa, head of health programs at the Terence Higgins Trust, a sexual health charity, said the results were disappointing and the Joint Committee on Immunization and Immunization (JCVI) should reconsider the vaccination programme.

“If the evidence changes, so must the approach.”

“Gonorrhea rates in the UK are sky high and this is particularly true among gay and bisexual men, and we are seeing more and more antibiotic-resistant strains of the infection.

“What we know for sure is that condoms and routine testing remain the cornerstones of preventing and ending STDs, and we must continue to work to reduce the high rates of STDs in this country,” he said.