Gonorrhoea vaccines are now available in sexual health clinics across the UK as an effort to combat rising infection rates. The initial focus will be on high-risk groups, particularly gay and bisexual men. The NHS anticipates the rollout could prevent around 100,000 cases and save nearly 8 million pounds in healthcare costs over the next decade. The 4CMenB vaccine, previously used for meningitis B, is effective against gonorrhoea due to the similarity of the bacteria. Infection rates have reached over 85,000 cases in 2023, indicating a significant public health challenge.
The jabs will first be offered to those at highest risk - mostly gay and bisexual men who have a history of multiple sexual partners or sexually transmitted infections.
NHS England say the roll out is a world-first, and predict it could prevent as many as 100,000 cases, potentially saving the NHS almost 8m over the next decade.
Gonorrhoea is a bacterial infection that is transmitted through unprotected sex. Symptoms can include pain, unusual discharge, inflammation of the genitals and infertility.
Doctors are becoming increasingly worried about the number of infections, and hope the vaccine, which is 30-40% effective, will also help slow the growing number of antibiotic-resistant cases.
Collection
[
|
...
]