Use of MenB vaccine to prevent gonorrhoea probably ineffective, Aussie study suggests
The meningococcal B vaccine is ineffective for preventing gonorrhoea in men who have sex with men, despite some European governments offering it to at-risk groups, a major Australian trial has concluded.
The GoGoVax trial, published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine, examined the effect of GSK’s meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero (4CMenB) in men who have sex with men, as well as transgender women, transgender men and non-binary people who have sex with men.
Participants were eligible if they had been diagnosed with Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection or infectious syphilis in the preceding 18 months — indicating increased risk of gonorrhoea infection — and were either living with HIV or had tested negative and were using HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.
About 600 participants aged 18-50, randomly assigned to two doses of 4CMenB or saline placebo, were included in the primary efficacy analysis between July 2021 and May 2023.
