Vaccine Candidates for the Control and Prevention of the Sexually Transmitted Disease Gonorrhea

The World Health Organization (WHO) has placed N. gonorrhoeae on the global priority list of antimicrobial resistant pathogens and is urgently seeking the development of new intervention strategies. N. gonorrhoeae causes 86.9 million cases globally per annum. The effects of gonococcal disease are seen predominantly in women and children and especially in the Australian Indigenous community. While economic modelling suggests that this infection alone may directly cost the USA health care system USD 11.0–20.6 billion, indirect costs associated with adverse disease and pregnancy outcomes, disease prevention, and productivity loss, mean that the overall effect of the disease is far greater still. In this review, we summate the current progress towards the development of a gonorrhea vaccine and describe the clinical trials being undertaken in Australia to assess the efficacy of the current formulation of Bexsero(®) in controlling disease.