Background: There is no licensed vaccine against gonorrhea, but Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B outer membrane vesicle-based vaccines, such as MenB-4C, may offer cross-protection against gonorrhea. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized the published literature on MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness against gonorrhea.
Methods: We conducted a literature search of electronic databases (PubMed, Medline, Embase, Global Health, Scopus, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library) to identify peer-reviewed articles published in English from 1 January 2013 to 11 September 2024 that reported MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness estimates against gonorrhea and gonorrhea/chlamydia coinfection and the duration of MenB-4C vaccine-induced protection. We estimated pooled MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness (≥1 dose) against gonorrhea using the DerSimonian-Laird random effects model.
Results: Eight articles met our eligibility criteria. Receipt of ≥1 dose of MenB-4C vaccine was 23% to 47% effective against gonorrhea. Two doses of MenB-4C vaccine were 33% to 40% effective against gonorrhea, and 1 dose of MenB-4C vaccine was 26% effective. MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness against gonorrhea/chlamydia coinfection was mixed, with 2 studies reporting effectiveness estimates of 32% and 44% and 2 other studies showing no protective effect. MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness against gonorrhea was comparable in people with HIV (44%) and people without HIV (23%-47%). Pooled MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness (≥1 dose) against gonorrhea was 32.4%. One study concluded that MenB-4C vaccine effectiveness against gonorrhea may wane approximately 36 months postvaccination.
Conclusions: MenB-4C vaccine is moderately effective against gonorrhea in various populations. Prospective clinical trials that assess the efficacy of MenB-4C against gonorrhea, gonorrhea/chlamydia coinfection, and duration of protection are warranted to strengthen this evidence.
Keywords: MenB-4C vaccine; Outer membrane vesicle serogroup B meningococcal vaccine; STI vaccine; gonorrhea; vaccine effectiveness.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2024.