England to become first in world to roll out gonorrhoea vaccine - BBC

Against the background of a record increase in the number of cases, England has launched the world's first gonorrhea vaccine - a sexually transmitted infection. This is reported by BBC, writes UNN.

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"England will be the first country in the world to start vaccinating people against the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhea," the statement said.

It is reported that the vaccine will be available to everyone. However, the main focus will be on gay and bisexual men with a history of multiple sexual partners or STIs.

The vaccine is 30-40% effective, but the National Health Service (NHS) hopes it will help stop the rapid increase in infections.

It is reported that, according to forecasts by Imperial College London, if the vaccination proves popular, it could prevent 100,000 cases of the disease and save the NHS almost £8 million (more than $438,000) over the next decade.

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Interestingly, this vaccine was not developed for gonorrhea, but for meningitis B, which is now given to infants.

However, the bacteria that cause these two diseases are so closely related that the MenB vaccination reduces the number of gonorrhea cases by about a third.

This does not eliminate the risk of contracting gonorrhea. It is usually contracted during sex without a condom.

However, Professor Andrew Pollard, head of the country's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which recommended the vaccine, said that despite its effectiveness of only 30%, it is "worth it" and could have a "huge impact" overall.

Vaccination is needed not only because of the increase in the number of cases. Gonorrhea is becoming increasingly difficult to treat.

In most cases, gonorrhea is treated with a single dose of antibiotics, but the bacterium that causes gonorrhea has been around for 80 years and is constantly developing resistance to antibiotics.

The same is happening with current treatments, which is why some doctors are concerned that gonorrhea may one day become incurable.

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