Vaccine against gonorrhoea to roll out in Scotland
A new vaccine against gonorrhoea will be rolled out in Scotland in August following a UK-wide rise in cases.
The illness, which is the second most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Scotland is potentially painful and in rare cases can be life-threatening.
Scottish cases have risen in recent years, with 5,999 infections in 2023 - a rise of 59% from before the Covid pandemic.
Those eligible for the vaccine will include gay and bisexual men at highest risk of infection, as well those involved in selling or exchanging sex, regardless of their gender.
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Doctors and charities call for gonorrhoea vaccine roll-out
Those most affected by gonorrhoea in the UK are those aged 16 to 25, gay and bisexual men, and those of black and Caribbean ancestry.
The vaccine, which is 30-40% effective, is also being delivered in England and Northern Ireland.
Doctors and charities called for vaccinations earlier this year after the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended a targeted roll-out in November 2023.
The Scottish government is funding the vaccination programme north of the border.
Public Health Minister Jenny Minto said the campaign was "urgent and timely since the number of diagnoses has been high and the disease is becoming increasingly difficult to treat with antibiotics".
She added: "The science tells us that this vaccine will potentially protect thousands of people and prevent the spread of infection.
"Anything which stops people from contracting gonorrhoea in the first place can have huge benefits, including ensuring our health system remains resilient by reducing the amount of treatment needed."
Dr Sam Ghebrehewet, head of the vaccination and immunisation division at Public Health Scotland, said the jab was a "welcome new intervention".
He said: "This vaccination programme is expected to help control and prevent the spread of gonorrhoea.
"Public Health Scotland is working with the Scottish government and colleagues across NHS boards to finalise plans for the rollout of this targeted vaccination, offering to those at increased risk of gonorrhoea from August 2025."
The vaccine was not designed for gonorrhoea - it is the meningitis B vaccine currently given to babies.
The bacteria that cause the two diseases are so closely related that the MenB jab appears to cut gonorrhoea cases by around a third.
However, it will not eliminate the risk of catching gonorrhoea - it is normally caught while having sex without a condom.
Prof Andrew Pollard, the chair of the JCVI which recommended the vaccine, said despite it only being 30% effective, it was "worth having" and could have "a huge impact" overall.
Gonorrhoea is also becoming increasingly difficult to treat.
Most cases are treated with a single dose of antibiotics, but there is an 80-year history of the bacterium which causes gonorrhoea repeatedly evolving resistance to antibiotics.
This is also happening to current treatments and is why some doctors are concerned gonorrhoea could one day become untreatable.
They say the best way to deal with a drug-resistant infection is to never catch it in the first place.
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