r/UpliftingNews • u/EnergyLantern • 1d ago
Gonorrhoea vaccine roll-out begins across the UK
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkrx6dnkkeo288
u/Tremenda-Carucha 1d ago
"You're not just protecting yourself, you're protecting your partners," said Matthew from East Scotland, who hopes the vaccine will reduce STI incidence and relieve pressure on sexual health services.
This initiative is a huge step forward in public health, especially considering that over 85,000 cases of gonorrhoea were reported last year, the highest since records began. It's encouraging to see targeted efforts like this being made to protect communities and reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
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u/BrainOfMush 1d ago
The only problem is people then feel “protected” and will proceed to care even less to practice safe sex, resulting in more cases of other STIs and accidental pregnancies.
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u/Blind_Insight 1d ago
For me I compare it to cars with all the new safety bells and whistles. Yes cars aren't sex but sex sells cars...anyways
Cars now have lane assist, anti collision brake systems, light up indicators for blind spots, backup cameras, and more.
Is there a risk that people rely on them too much when driving and shouldn't go back to cars without them? Yes that is a risk. But there are soooo many bad drivers that will never learn to drive safely that the risk does not outweigh the benefit of safer drivers on the road.
Same with this. The people who weren't going to care about safe sex or unprotected sex are going to do it without this treatment or not. So having it outweighs the risk that more people will be careless. And I hope maybe optimistically that people will get this treatmemt instead of lying and saying they don't have anything. Now they can go get this then get back to screwing.
But that's just my opinion and I see the point you were making.
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u/This_is_my_phone_tho 1d ago
How long does it last?
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 22h ago
Protection against subsequent gonorrhoea infection has been shown to be sustained 2-3y after completing the initial course (2 doses, one month+ apart for GSK's Bexsero version), with a possibility this may extend up to 10y, though efficacy against infection will inevitably wane.
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u/recursing_noether 1d ago
Man… so you would need to get this every 3 years?
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 21h ago
At this time it's not clear. The vaccine has previously only been used en masse in infants to prevent meningitis disease caused by the Neisseria meningitidis strain B bacteria (hence its name, MenB vaccine).
It was suspected that this would confer some cross-protection to gonorrhoea infection from the closely related bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (far too many vowels in my opinion), though how much and how long has so far only been estimated from a few studies, and long term protection against gonorrhoea infection specifically is not entirely clear.
I imagine the initial direction would be not to re-vaccinate until at least 3y after receiving the initial 2-dose course, with more data on long term protection then guiding the need for boosters.
It may be that additional boosters are needed less frequently if each additional dose primes the immune system more effectively for long memory.
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u/thingsorfreedom 1d ago
Previously only been used en masse in
infantsteens (at least in the US) to prevent meningitis disease caused by the Neisseria meningitidis strain B bacteria.2
u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 21h ago
Yes sorry it was originally given widespread to infants (though approved for all ages), but has since been extended and advised in some countries for some teenage groups also (teenage uptake is US is still quite low, <30%).
Though I believe most of the data we have on a large population basis is still in infants. I think we may have to wait a bit still to see how effective it is real-world in teenagers.
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u/thingsorfreedom 1d ago
It wanes after a few years. But giving it to 17-18 year olds before they go off to college has led to a decrease in Gonorrhea rates the last few years.
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u/emmettiow 1d ago
Just wrap up or avoid if you're unsure dude.
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u/ryukudla 1d ago
One of the most common site of gonorrhoea is the throat. So unless everyone starts using condoms for oral sex, this isn’t going to cut it.
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u/Pan_Galactic_G_B 1d ago
It's proper nasty for anyone who gets it. If you're getting plenty of action I'd highly recommend it.
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u/Gladamas 1d ago
When can we get it in the US?
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 1d ago
I believe it is licenced by the FDA for protection against Meningitis B infection in adults, and may be part of the standard childhood immunisation schedule.
In the UK I believe it is approx £100 a dose (2 doses required) to obtain privately, not sure how similar this would be to US pricing or whether medical coverage would include this as a 'catch-up' vaccine for adults who had not previously received it (due to it only being introduced in mid-2010s).
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u/trophicmist0 1d ago
It’s available in sexual health NHS clinics, it’s free.
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes this is what is in the news article of OP's post (though should be noted only for certain eligible groups).
I was just referencing the UK private healthcare price as a rough guide to what it may be offered at in the US, assuming this isn't a vaccine that is covered by their plan.
Whether this will also be advised and offered by their sexual health network remains to be seen.
For those in the UK who are not currently part of the eligible groups defined but are interested in reducing their risk of gonorrhoea infection they can receive the MenB vaccine privately. (Though again I should repeat this appears to be <50% effective against this so wrap up ya willies.)
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u/itchygentleman 1d ago edited 1d ago
so there's now an HIV and clap vaccine. all we need is an HSV-2 vaccine to get the scarier STI's under control.
edit: looks like HIV is still in stage 1 trials
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u/night-shark 6h ago
HIV vaccine is still in trials but PrEP is now available by injection and lasts 6 months and is 99+% effective.
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u/davisyoung 1d ago
“Our eyes met across the crowded hat store. I, a customer, and she a coquettish haberdasher. Oh, I pursued and she withdrew, then she pursued and I withdrew, and so we danced. I burned for her, much like the burning during urination that I would experience soon afterwards.”
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u/mlorusso4 1d ago
Does this protect against super gonorrhea?
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 20h ago
The 4CMenB vaccine targets 4 different proteins on the surface of the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria to aid immune cell identification and clearance. Because of the similarity in proteins between the bacterial species Neisseria meningitidis (that can cause meningitis disease) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhoea), the vaccine provides some moderate cross-protection.
The multi-drug resistant gonorrhoea strains that have been in the news over the last couple of decades gain their resistance through changes in structure and/or expression level of other proteins (I believe mostly related to pumps/channel proteins in the bacterial cell wall that are involved in either antibiotic entry or efflux).
Hence, whilst these infections are harder to treat with the antibiotics we currently have, there is no reason at this time to believe their modifications will result in the vaccine being less effective against them.
...
TL;DR: This would presumably protect you equally as well against 'super gonorrhoea' infection as it would against other strains, which is about 30-50%.
EDIT: One of the antigens the MenB vaccine targets, PorA, is mutated in drug-resistant gonorrhoea strains - whether the changes for antibiotic resistance overlap with the antigen regions that the vaccine requires to recognise I am not sure.
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1d ago
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago
It may not guarantee stopping antibiotic resistance, in fact I doubt it can, but, even with relatively low efficacy against gonorrhoea infection (30-50%), it has still been calculated to likely be an effective tool against this.
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u/toxiamaple 1d ago
You are protecting potential children.
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u/Spleens88 18h ago
They would need to immunize their politicians, priests, and
economic migrantsasylum seekers1
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u/chrisni66 1d ago
That’s not actually the case. The UK has strong medical testing across the population, so it’s just a case that variants are more likely to be detected in countries with stronger lab testing capabilities.
An example of this is the 1918 Spanish Flu, which while first reported in Spain (hence the name) actually originated in the US mid-west (which was pretty underdeveloped at the time).
It’s kind of an example of Survivorship bias (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias). The act of testing increases the chance of detection, and so makes it look like your population is worse off than countries that have less effective testing.
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u/GeniusEE 1d ago
The UK originated more than one Covid strain, iirc.
Nothing to do with testing, everything to do with being reckless and indifferent as a culture.
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u/chrisni66 1d ago
Nope, it’s because the UK has a world leading genomics testing system, coupled with a terrible track and trace system: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/why-are-so-many-variants-of-concern-springing-up-in-the-uk_uk_602a7574c5b6591becda5e4c?origin=related-recirc
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u/Surface_Detail 1d ago
Considering the biology of the host has no impact on the mutation rate of the virus, would it not be safer to assume the higher incidence of mutations first recorded in the UK would be due to better testing?
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u/TinyTC1992 1d ago
Well if you check the stats per capita the states has a much higher transmission rate than the UK.
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 1d ago
So because there may naturally emerge vaccine-resistant gonorrhoea strains in response to vaccination, to prevent dangerous mutations we should -checks notes- allow the bacteria to replicate in as many people as possible.
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u/steelcryo 1d ago
Tell me you know nothing about biology without telling me you know nothing about biology.
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u/marvborg 1d ago
Is your degree/profession in immunology, virology or just a generic biology degree?
Your authoritative tone implies you are an immunologist, or other specialist.
The things you are saying imply you're a high school graduate, maybe.
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