England will be the first country in the world to start vaccinating people against the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea.
It won't be available to everyone.
The vaccine will be mainly for gay and bisexual people with a history of multiple sexual partners or sexually transmitted infections.
The vaccine is 30 to 40 percent effective, but the National Health Service in England hopes it will reverse the rising number of infections.
In 2023, there were more than 85.000 cases, the highest in the last 100 years, or since records began in 1918.
In Serbia, 2022 cases of syphilis were registered in 302, the latest available data.
This is 27 percent more than in 2021, when 238 cases were registered. the data is Institute for Public Health Batut
That same year, 79 cases of gonorrhea were also registered, according to the same source.
Gonorrhea does not always cause symptoms, but they can include pain, genital inflammation, and infertility.
It is unclear how many people will decide to get vaccinated.
But projections from Imperial College London show that if the vaccine proves popular, it could prevent 100.000 cases and save the British health service almost €10 million over the next decade.
Max, a sexual health activist, told the BBC he would "100 per cent" receive the vaccine after being diagnosed with gonorrhoea twice within a year.
"I think it's great that she was released."
"It will take the pressure off the clinics, it's just a big win for everyone," he says.
Vaccination will begin in August and will be offered through sexual health services.
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Is it effective enough?
The vaccine is not intended for gonorrhea.
This is a meningitis B vaccine that is given to babies.
But the bacteria that cause the two diseases are so closely related that the MenB vaccine appears to reduce the number of cases of gonorrhea by about a third.
This will require a delicate conversation in sexual health clinics, as the vaccine will not eliminate the risk of contracting gonorrhea.
The infection is transmitted during sex without a condom.
But Andrew Pollard, chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which recommended the vaccine, said that despite being only 30 per cent effective, it was worth taking and could have a huge impact.
The decision was not made just because of the record number of cases.
Gonorrhea is becoming increasingly difficult to treat.
Most cases are treated with a single dose of antibiotics, but there is an 80-year history of the bacteria that causes gonorrhea repeatedly developing resistance to our antibiotics.
This is happening even with current treatments, which is why some doctors are concerned that gonorrhea could one day become incurable.
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The best way to deal with a drug-resistant infection is to never get it.
"Launching the world's first gonorrhoea vaccination is a huge step forward for sexual health and will be crucial in protecting individuals, helping to prevent the spread of infection and reducing the rise in antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria," says Amanda Doyle, a doctor at the National Health Service (NHS) in England.
The people most affected by gonorrhoea in the UK are those aged 16 to 25, gay and bisexual men, and those of African and Caribbean descent.
The vaccine, which costs about 10 euros per dose, is worth it when offered primarily to gay and bisexual men, not all teenagers.
However, doctors have the freedom to offer the vaccine at their own discretion to people they consider to be at equally high risk.
People will be offered vaccines against monkey goddesses, HPV and hepatitis.
Matt Phillips, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, says this is great news and a milestone for sexual health in England.
Gonorrhea diagnoses are at their highest level since records began and this has the potential to help reverse that, he adds.
It is not known how long the protection provided by the vaccine will last or how often booster doses will be needed.
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