Trial Shows Meningitis B Vaccine Fails to Prevent Gonorrhoea

A randomized controlled trial found no significant difference in gonorrhoea infections between men who received the Meningitis B vaccine and those who received a placebo. BBC News reported that the GoGoVax trial, conducted by the University of New South Wales in Sydney, monitored 587 men over two years. Half received the 4CMenB vaccine and half received a placebo.

Researchers recorded 291 new gonorrhoea infections in the vaccinated group and 285 in the placebo group. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial's authors said the findings, combined with two earlier studies, provide strong evidence that the MenB vaccine is not effective for gonorrhoea prevention.

The NHS began offering the MenB vaccine to men who have sex with men in August 2025 after earlier research suggested a possible protective effect. More than 30,000 people in England have started the vaccination course. Gonorrhoea cases in England reached 82,592 in 2022 before falling to 63,943 in 2025, a figure still double the total recorded in 2015.

Men who have sex with men remain the group most disproportionately affected, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The UK Health Security Agency said it is not recommending any immediate changes to the programme. Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at UKHSA, stated that ongoing UKHSA studies will provide more robust data on vaccine impact and effectiveness.

Taku Mukiwa, head of health programmes at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation should reconsider the programme in light of the new evidence.