MenB vaccine offers men no protection from gonorrhoea, study says

The UK Health Security Agency said it was not making any changes at this time.

Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at UKHSA UK, said it was “important to consider a range of evidence”.

“Over 30,000 people in England have started this course of vaccination, and this will provide more robust data on vaccine impact and effectiveness. These findings will be published in due course.”

Cases of gonorrhoea remain at record highs compared to 10-years ago.

In England they peaked at 82,592 in 2022. Since then the numbers have reduced to 63,943 in 2025 but they are still double what they were in 2015.

Men who have sex with men are the most disproportionately affected group according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Dr Odile Harrison, associate professor at the University of Oxford’s Population Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit said the results were “disappointing” but should not be seen as the end of a search for a vaccine.

“Gonorrhoea remains a major global public health threat, particularly with the continued emergence of antimicrobial resistance, and an effective vaccine remains a high priority,” she said.

Taku Mukiwa, head of health programmes at the sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said the results were disappointing and that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) should reconsider the vaccine programme.

“If the evidence has changed, the approach has to change too.”

“Rates of gonorrhoea in the UK are sky high and this is particularly true among gay and bisexual men, and we’re seeing more antibiotic resistant strains of the infection.

“What we do know for sure is that condoms and regular testing remain the cornerstones for preventing and stopping onward transmission of STIs, and we must continue to work to bring down the stubbornly high rates of STIs in this country”, he added.