New findings show effectiveness of meningococcal B vaccine against gonorrhoea

Researchers at The University of Adelaide have found that the meningococcal B vaccine could improve protection against gonorrhoea in addition to protection against meningococcal B meningitis. This significant finding, in a joint study with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, coincides with a rise in gonorrhoea cases globally and increasing bacterial resistance to drugs used to treat the infection. Led by 2022 South Australian of the Year, University of Adelaide Professor of Vaccinology, and Women’s and Children’s Hospital Senior Medical Practitioner Helen Marshall AM, the observational study found that two doses of the meningococcal B vaccine were 33 per cent effective against gonorrhoea in adolescents and young adults. Professor Marshall said the research aims to reduce not only gonorrhoea infection, but also the long-term effects of gonorrhoea, including infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and blindness in babies born to infected mothers. “With more than 106 million cases of gonorrhoea worldwide, and increasing at a rapid rate,...