MenB vaccine offers some protection against gonorrhoea too

• A study has estimated that MenB vaccination in New Zealand was around 31% effective against gonorrhoea
• This is the first time that a vaccine has been found to prevent cases of gonorrhoea
• Gonorrhoea is becoming more and more difficult to treat as it is becoming resistant to antibiotics
• This merits further investigation, and could have long-term implications for vaccinating teenagers in the UK with the MenB vaccine, potentially improving the cost-effectiveness equation

A new study by researchers in New Zealand has found that teenagers who had been vaccinated with MenB vaccine were significantly less likely to get the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea compared to those who were unimmunised. This finding could have wide implications including in the UK which was the first country to routinely introduce the MenB vaccine.

Linda Glennie, Head of Research at Meningitis Research Foundation explained, “This new research could be game-changing and merits further investigation. It could ultimately add weight to the argument for vaccinating teenagers here in the UK with the MenB vaccine, especially since gonorrhoea has become increasingly resistant to antibiotics in the UK and around the world.

Meningococcal B infection has for decades been the largest cause of life-threatening meningitis in the UK. Introducing the Bexsero vaccine for babies in 2015 was a major step forward, but teenagers are a high risk age group for the disease too. We are also funding research to help show whether vaccinating teenagers could help stop spread of the MenB bacteria to others, which would add further weight to the case for a teenage MenB vaccine.”