UK Targets Gonorrhea With New Vaccine Program

The program utilizes an existing vaccine developed against meningococcal disease.

An NHS on an ambulance outside the Royal London Hospital in London on Sept. 12, 2024. Carl Court/Getty Images

The United Kingdom has started offering free vaccines to people deemed at highest risk of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea, after infection rates hit the highest levels on record.

The new vaccine program targets “patients at highest risk of the sexually transmitted infection,” including homosexual men who have recently had multiple sexual partners, the National Health Service said in a statement on Aug. 4.

Officials are utilizing an existing vaccine that was developed to prevent meningococcal disease. The vaccine is known as 4CMenB, or Bexsero, and is made by GlaxoSmithKline.

The vaccine was estimated in a systematic review published in 2024 to provide 32.4 percent protection against gonorrhea.

UK officials said that there were 85,000 cases of gonorrhea in England in 2024, the most in any year on record and three times as many cases as in 2012.

“Rolling out this world-leading gonorrhoea vaccination programme in sexual health clinics in England represents a major breakthrough in preventing an infection that has reached record levels,” Minister for Public Health and Prevention Ashley Dalton said in a statement. “This government’s world-first vaccination programme will help turn the tide on infections, as well as tackling head-on the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. I strongly encourage anyone who is eligible to come forward for vaccination, to protect not only yourselves but also your sexual partners.”

The vaccine will be offered for free at clinics around the UK.

Officials estimate the vaccine will prevent thousands of infections and save the National Health Service more than $10 million over the next decade.

Bexsero is currently cleared in the United States and the UK for children to prevent meningococcal disease. Listed side effects include fever, febrile seizures, and Kawasaki disease.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that there are no existing vaccines for gonorrhea.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in 2023 advised using 4CMenB against gonorrhea. It noted that studies provided protection estimates from 32.7 percent to 42 percent.

“Even with a modest vaccine effectiveness, vaccination is of benefit as previous infection with gonorrhoea is thought to offer little protection against future infection and reinfection is therefore common,” the committee stated.

Officials took up the recommendations, including limiting the program to those deemed at highest risk of the disease.

Dr. Amanda Doyle, a National Health Service director, said in a statement that Bexsero “is already used to protect against Men B and is proven to be effective against gonorrhoea, preventing the spread of infection and reducing the rising rates of antibiotic-resistant strains.”